Which ladies' skaters have the Best Speed?

[Fallcolor]

The Japanese ladies have fairly good speed, along with Kim, Lepisto Kostner. Of the American ladies currently I would have to say only Nagasu and Wagner...

Angela Maxwell was another fast skater too, that I'd mention.

[pinky166]

The Japanese ladies have fairly good speed, along with Kim, Lepisto Kostner. Of the American ladies currently I would have to say only Nagasu and Wagner...

Angela Maxwell was another fast skater too, that I'd mention.

NBC commentators kept mentioning how Christina Gao skates with a lot of speed at nationals this year. She certainly seems fast to me, not Kostner or Kim level but I'd give her a 7, maybe an 8 now that she's taller.

[Screenie]

i'm not sure if Laetitia Hubert was already mentioned, but I think she's the fastest one I've ever seen.

[ks777]

i'm not sure if Laetitia Hubert was already mentioned, but I think she's the fastest one I've ever seen.

yes she was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5i6zECEXT0

[Kelvster]

Yulia Lavrenchuk was very fast!

Miss her skating ...

[OliviaPug]

I've seen Suguri several times over the years, and even in 09 she still seemed crazy fast to me. In non-COP years she really FLEW during her footwork (Thank you, N. Sato!) and it made her stand out amongst the other girls.

I think it's funny that there are so many different opinions here! You'd think judging speed would be more objective.

Here are some of my impressions after watching lots of competitions over the last 10-12 years:

I never found Arakawa to be super fast. The last time I saw her skate was at the cheesefest in Detroit just before she won her world crown in 2004 where she lost to Kwan. I remember at the time thinking that she and Kwan had similar speed (quite good, but not exceptional) but what was most impressive was the ease of movement/liquid crossovers and ice coverage in general.

This. It's tough judging speed on video or TV because you can't see the ice coverage. The skaters that skate with ease of movement, such as Shizuka and Kwan, look like they're skating slower sometimes on TV or video, but it is deceiving because in person you can blink your eye and they're on the other side of the ice.

Skaters who pump their backs and lean forward oftentimes look like they're skating faster on TV and video when in person it's clear that they're just not getting as much run on their blade and not going nearly as fast.

I always thought Suguri, Kostner, Hubert, Arakawa, Kim, and Nagasu were/are very fast. Slutskaya could be very fast at times as well, but she didn't have the best carriage. A slow skater for you who was as cute as a button, but scratched and plowed across the ice was "cupcake" aka Elena Sokolova. Some wondered why she didn't get the scores she "deserved." After seeing her compete in person, I easily realized why. Her ice coverage was dreadful and her mastery of the blade left a lot to be desired.

Another fast skater = Katia Gordeeva. Incredible run of the blade, incredibly deep and sure edges. Yuka Sato has that same mastery though I always thought where she excelled was her speed control, not sheer speed across the ice.

O-

[Loves_Shizuka]

Was Ito considered fast?

[ks777]

Was Ito considered fast?

I thought she was really fast.

[floskate]

I'm surprised Ito hasn't been mentioned here actually because she was very fast. The speed she carried into and out of her jumps is pretty much second to none. Plus she could build up speed in the blink of an eye.

[ks1227]

To add to the list of old timers, Anna Rechnio, Laetitia Hubert, and Surya Bonaly all flew.

In an interview in 1995, she said that almost all of her falls on jumps were due to her crazy speed, and that her new coach (Jean-Rolland Racle) was there to calm her down.
But in fact she made as many mistakes after 1995 as pre 1995 !

One of my biggest impressions from attending 1998 Worlds was that Hubert and Rechnio were probably the two fastest ladies singles skaters in Minneapolis. I thought they were a lot faster even than Slutskaya, who had a reputation as a fast skater. So Hubert definitely didn't slow down much after she went over to Racle.

Unfortunately, it seems she didn't calm down much either.

I remember some commentators saying around 94 and 95 that some skaters were afraid to practice with Hubert because she was so fast and out of control that they thought she might injure them as well as herself.

Her speed was definitely out of control, but it also allowed her to get some of the biggest jumps I've ever seen. She and Rechnio were spectacular when they landed the jumps, I really wanted them to get the silver and bronze medals in Minneapolis.