Your top five MEN of all time?

[Yazmeen]

Brian Boitano (King of da WORLD!!!!!)
Dick Button
Evan Lysacek
Paul Wylie
Tie: Alexei Yagudin, John Curry, Brian Orser, Johnny Weir - 2003 to 2006

Honorable mention: Josef Sabovcik, Chris Bowman, Kurt Browning, Phillipe Candeloro, Rudy Galindo

[Willowway]

Ilia Kulik - well, you knew I'd say that but I do mean it! His jumps obviously but also the carriage of his upper body and gorgeous, soft arms and hands - ballet class wasn't wasted on him! I wish more men could have that level of port de bras.
John Curry - gorgeous, just gorgeous work all around
Kurt Browning - new level of footwork
Toller - could any men's list be complete without Toller? He changed so much for everyone!
Yagudin - I personally don't like his skating that much but I appreciate his driven competitive spirit.


Honorable Mention - Jeff Buttle for his magnificent edges, like butta! Watching Jeff's skating from the hip down is a privilege. He will never stop that icky, shugging stuff with his shoulders so I don't watch that part.
Gary Beacom - again, can you tell I pay attention to edges? His edge work can be stunning and truly take you some place else in your head - I think of watching a Gary edge program as a meditation.

[REO]

Lambiel
Weir
Kulik
Yagudin
Takahashi

[shine]

I thought it might be interesting to see who the "Top Five of the Top Fives" were. The Results so far are:

Stéphane Lambiel (32)
Alexei Yagudin (31)
Kurt Browning (27)
Brian Boitano (17)
Daisuke Takahashi and Ilia Kulik (tied at 15)
:respec: :encore:

[DELTA]

Alexei Yagudin
Stephane Lambiel
Yevgeni Plushenko
Kurt Browning
Daisuke Takahashi

[aftershocks]

1. Axel Paulsen
2. Dick Button
3. John Curry
4. Toller Cranston

I'm trying to list only the names of skaters who revolutionarized the sport, because of their participations in it. That's how Uncle Dick defines greatness.

Right, it's difficult to name the greatest of all time when we're most familiar with the skaters we've actually seen or heard the most about. Good to include Axel Paulsen (who created the axel jump). But missing would be Ulrich Salchow (famous for creating the salchow), and the great Jackson Haines who revolutionized the sport and taught both Salchow and Paulsen. Haines was responsible for developing the international style of skating -- artistic with balletic influence, graceful arms (instead of being held rigidly with little movement), use of music (before Haines' influence, routines were performed without music).

My list of male pioneers who revolutionized the sport:
Jackson Haines, Axel Paulsen, Ulrich Salchow, Dick Button, Toller Cranston

List of greatest that I've witnessed:
Cranston, Curry, Boitano, Weir, Cousins

HM: Wylie, Bowman, Browning, Abt, Yagudin, Kulik

Male pioneers of show skating: Frick and Frack, Gary Beacom

Great male U.S. skaters I've heard about: Petkevich, Tickner, Ronnie Robertson (exceptional spinner), Hayes and David Jenkins

Others I've enjoyed: Bradley, Jahnke, Savoie, Galindo, Eldredge, Delmore, Ward, Verner, Abbott, Takahashi, Lambiel, Urmanov, Petr Barna, and one of the best U.S. male skaters never to make it to Worlds: Shepherd Clark

[IneZR]

Kurt Browning
Alexei Yagudin
Stephane Lambiel
Evgeni Plushenko
Brian Boitano

[skatesindreams]

aftershocks, thanks for a great post!

[NONKO]

Alexei Yagudin is No. 1;)

Others are at the same.

[inflameduntamed]

1.) John Curry
2.) Alexei Yagudin
3.) Kurt Browning
4.) Toller Cranston
5.) Jeffrey Buttle

[Willowway]

Curry (for skating so beautifully, always)
Cranston (for being courageous)
Kulik (for skating beautifully in a wide variety of styles)
Lambiel (for sheer elegance)
Yagudin (for being a competitor)

[Moka-Ananas]

1. Evgeni Plushenko
2. Ilia Kulik
3. Alexei Yagudin
4. Stéphane Lambiel
5. Brian Joubert

[merrywidow]

1 Curry
2 Cranston
3 Bowman
4 Eldredge
5 Weir/Wylie

[miffy]

1) Alexei Yagudin
2) Brian Joubert
3) Daisuke Takahashi
4) Emanuel Sandhu :P
5) Can't decide... Weir or Lambiel.. I guess Lambiel overall.

[Simone411]

Scott Hamilton
Kurt Browning
Viktor Petrenko
Ilia Kulik
Todd Eldredge

(also Paul Wylie, Ilia Klimkin, Stephane Lambiel, Emanuel Sandhu, Alexei Yagudin, Rudy Galindo, etc. etc. etc. :lol: )

:40beers: