Womens Olympic Gold Class vs Non Gold Class

[judgejudy27]

It is interesting to wonder but if you put the Womens Olympic Gold class vs the best of the Non Gold class which is the stronger overall group.


Olympic Gold Team:

Madge Syder
Madga Julin
Herma Szabo
Sonja Henjie
Barbara Ann Scott
Jeanette Altwegg
Tenley Albright
Carol Heiss
Sjouke Dijkstra
Peggy Fleming
Trixi Schuba
Dorothy Hamil
Annett Poetzsch
Katarina Witt
Kristi Yamaguchi
Oksana Baiul
Tara Lipinski
Sarah Hughes
Shizuka Arakawa
Yu Na Kim

So that is 20 women. So lets say put them up against the best 20 skaters to never win the Olympic Gold medal. Mine would be something like this group:

Midori Ito
Mao Asada
Michelle Kwan
Irina Slutskaya
Cecilia Colledge
Karen Magnussen
Janet Lynn
Linda Fratianne
Denise Biellmann
Rosalynn Sumners
Debi Thomas
Elaine Zayak
Gaby Seyfert
Lu Chen
Yuka Sato
Maribel Vinson Owen
Christine Errrath
Sasha Cohen
Nancy Kerrigan
Aja Zanova

Which is the stronger overall group.

[attyfan]

As determined by what rules? Are triples required? School figures?

Certainly, I think Michelle Kwan can jump rings around Henie ... but I don't know how good MK is at figures.

[judgejudy27]

As determined by what rules? Are triples required? School figures?

Certainly, I think Michelle Kwan can jump rings around Henie ... but I don't know how good MK is at figures.

How about just overall which group in totality has made more impact on skating. There are alot of people from the figures era and non figures era on both lists so one could compare:

Henjie vs Colledge
Fleming and Hamill vs Lynn and Fratianne
Poetzsch vs Errath
Kwan and Asada and Ito vs Yamaguchi and Kim and Lipinski

I find it intriguing since I am pretty sure this is the only one of the 4 disciplines you could seriously ask such a question.

[Macassar88]

I haven't really watched a lot of the older skaters skate, but I will go by olympics:

2010: Kim Yu-Na definitely outclassed everyone else in the Olympics.
2006: I'd have to go with the non-gold class here. I loved Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya so much.
2002: Same with 2006 but tack on Michelle Kwan
1998: Difficult to decide. Still the non gold. (Kwan, Chen, and Bonaly's back flip to one foot beat Lipinski)
1994: I loved Oksana's short program. A little iffy about the LP, but I'd go with her over the rest
1992: Hard to say whether I preferred Yamaguchi or Ito (If she had done the triple axel triple toe along with the solo triple axel, it would have probably went to her)
Before that, I didn't really watch anything.

[blue_idealist]

Who is Aja Zanova?

[Cheylana]

1992: Hard to say whether I preferred Yamaguchi or Ito (If she had done the triple axel triple toe along with the solo triple axel, it would have probably went to her)

Ito was fourth after the short, so she still would have needed another skater to beat Kristi in the freeskate to get the gold (and she sure didn't get any help from the likes of Nancy, Tonya or Leticia Hubert!)

[falling_dance]

Who is Aja Zanova?

Alena Vrzáňová, who won the 1949 and 1950 World titles.

[judgejudy27]

I cant vote as I am pretty split.

[neptune]

So lets say put them up against the best 20 skaters to never win the Olympic Gold medal. Mine would be something like this group:

Well, I'd definitely include Tonya Harding in there before I would Nancy Kerrigan.

[judgejudy27]

Sorry I forgot Harding. I also think Harding is a better skater than Kerrigan (although her contemporary Kerrigan obviously had the better career so is maybe the greater skater, but not really the better one). Still I definitely would take Vrzanova, Owen, or Errath off my top 20 list to make room for Harding in that case.

I also sort of wanted to include Kadavy even though I know her career doesnt justify it. She was a wonderful skater except for her lack of competitive nerve.

[neptune]

Sorry I forgot Harding. I also think Harding is a better skater than Kerrigan (although her contemporary Kerrigan obviously had the better career so is maybe the greater skater, but not really the better one).

No problem. Nancy really only had the better career from '92 onward (overall), but even then, it's not like she was head and shoulders above Tonya most of the time (such as at '93 Nationals).

I also sort of wanted to include Kadavy even though I know her career doesnt justify it. She was a wonderful skater except for her lack of competitive nerve.

True.

[PUNKPRINCESS]

As a group, non-gold class wins by a mile for me.

Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Janet Lynn, Yuka Sato, Midori Ito, Mao Asada, Lu Chen...

[Macassar88]

Ito was fourth after the short, so she still would have needed another skater to beat Kristi in the freeskate to get the gold (and she sure didn't get any help from the likes of Nancy, Tonya or Leticia Hubert!)

I mean my vote for favorite, not the gold

[Cheylana]

I mean my vote for favorite, not the gold

Oh!

[JamieSix]

Some of those kids just got lucky. *cough* Sarah *cough*

I'll take the non-gold class any day!

[aliceanne]

It is interesting to wonder but if you put the Womens Olympic Gold class vs the best of the Non Gold class which is the stronger overall group.


Olympic Gold Team:

Madge Syder
Madga Julin
Herma Szabo
Sonja Henjie
Barbara Ann Scott
Jeanette Altwegg
Tenley Albright
Carol Heiss
Sjouke Dijkstra
Peggy Fleming
Trixi Schuba
Dorothy Hamil
Annett Poetzsch
Katarina Witt
Kristi Yamaguchi
Oksana Baiul
Tara Lipinski
Sarah Hughes
Shizuka Arakawa
Yu Na Kim

So that is 20 women. So lets say put them up against the best 20 skaters to never win the Olympic Gold medal. Mine would be something like this group:

Midori Ito
Mao Asada
Michelle Kwan
Irina Slutskaya
Cecilia Colledge
Karen Magnussen
Janet Lynn
Linda Fratianne
Denise Biellmann
Rosalynn Sumners
Debi Thomas
Elaine Zayak
Gaby Seyfert
Lu Chen
Yuka Sato
Maribel Vinson Owen
Christine Errrath
Sasha Cohen
Nancy Kerrigan
Aja Zanova

Which is the stronger overall group.

I think winning the OGM is as much luck as anything. It is only once every 4 years so if you are injured, have family problems or are not at your peak you may never get one. Also the rules change. Some people would have won if figures hadn't counted so much at one time (Biellmann). Other people might not have won if jumping hadn't counted so much when they were competing.

Michelle and Irina certainly deserve kudos for longevity as competitors. I would also give Kristi credit for maintaining her technical abilities throughout her professional career. As far as artistry, that's totally subjective so each person will have their own opinion.

[miki88]

Well, the Olympics haven't been kind to my favorite skaters. So non-OGM class for me!

[Macassar88]

Some of those kids just got lucky. *cough* Sarah *cough*

I'll take the non-gold class any day!

How I wish Sasha had hit that Triple Lutz Triple Toe
(Or any of the others in the top four hitting)

[wonderlen]

IMO OG is just another extra overhyped decorated medal. I mean the skaters still compete with the same rules, same competitors. It just the spotlight and the once in every 4 years window make it a little stressful and added a bit more pressure maybe.

[aliceanne]

Yeah, they're all good. I don't view the OGM as a lifetime achievement award either. It's just one competition and it takes more than one competition to become a legend.