Yu Na Kim is great skater but not even in same league as much greater Michelle Kwan

[judgejudy27]

Alternatives
Name a single skater is in the same league as Michelle?

Midori Ito
Janet Lynn

The end

2nd Alternatives
Name a single skater is in (atleast) the same league as Yuna?

Madge Syers
Janet Lynn
Midori Ito
Michelle Kwan
Sonja Henjie
Herma Szabo
Barbara Ann Scott
Tenley Albright
Carol Heiss
Peggy Fleming
Dorothy Hamill
Katarina Witt
Kristi Yamaguchi
Trixi Schuba (greatest ever in figures)
Irina Slutskaya
Tara Lipinski
Mao Asada
Lu Chen

[overedge]

Not long, I'm sure.
Counting down...... 5...4...3...2...1.......

I don't know why ppl like you want to pick a fight so badly. You say like "C'mon let's (cat)fight against me". I'm sure you're going to talk about yunabot. Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.

Cheylana, I think you have your answer.

[shine]

I have no interest in debating who's the greatest and what not. I'm not crazy about either.
But really, why are you so fixated on figuring out who THE greatest skater is anyway? If you love a skater, you love a skater. Something about their skating must have clicked and made your heart flutter to have made you love. Whether they are the greatest or not doesn't change anything. Feel secure enough about your fandom.

I agree with those who said the greatest is the one you like the most. I am fanatic about a few skaters but not all of them are commonly considered "the greatest" by fans. OTOH I'm totally indifferent toward quite a few who probably satisfy the general criteria for greatest skater. So, does it matter?
Even if there is a need to name the greatest, IMO the number of titles won is only ONE of the criteria for deciding who's best, anyway.

[miki88]

I have no interest in debating who's the greatest and what not. I'm not crazy about either.
But really, why are you so fixated on figuring out who THE greatest skater is anyway? If you love a skater, you love a skater. Something about their skating must have clicked and made your heart flutter to have made you love. Whether they are the greatest or not doesn't change anything. Feel secure enough about your fandom.

I agree with those who said the greatest is the one you like the most. I am fanatic about a few skaters but not all of them are commonly considered "the greatest" by fans. OTOH I'm totally indifferent toward quite a few who probably satisfy the general criteria for greatest skater. So, does it matter?
Even if there is a need to name the greatest, IMO the number of titles won is only ONE of the criteria for deciding who's best, anyway.

Well-said. ITA with everything you've said.

[os168]

Midori Ito
Janet Lynn

The end




Madge Syers
Janet Lynn
Midori Ito
Michelle Kwan
Sonja Henjie
Herma Szabo
Barbara Ann Scott
Tenley Albright
Carol Heiss
Peggy Fleming
Dorothy Hamill
Katarina Witt
Kristi Yamaguchi
Trixi Schuba (greatest ever in figures)
Irina Slutskaya
Tara Lipinski
Mao Asada
Lu Chen

Define league, if you just mean medals, it doesn't mean much!

A sport is only good at its very best at the time the champion reigns and their relative competitors. Otherwise Sonja Henjie is the greatest of all time, which she is but only in terms of medals. It is a different world out there now [Urgh...i promised myself not get involved, time to search for the power off button]

[MikiAndoFan#1]

I'd bet you started it.

[a56]

Of course the Olympics is more important than a single Worlds as you foolishly denied. (snip) Your basic reading comprehension has not improved in even a 14 month span I see however, congratulations.

Wow, classy. Insults don't give you credibility.

[judgejudy27]

Define league, if you just mean medals, it doesn't mean much!

A sport is only good at its very best at the time the champion reigns and their relative competitors. Otherwise Sonja Henjie is the greatest of all time, which she is but only in terms of medals. It is a different world out there now

Sonja Henjie indeed skated when it was a different World. The field of the Yu Na Kim era (if you can even call it that) is hardly a different World than the Kwan era though. The rules are a bit different, but the quality of skating overall is basically the same or lower now, and the triple count isnt really higher.

I meant mostly overall impact on the sport rather than medal count. If it were just on medal count I would have counted Annett Poetzsch or Jeanette Altwegg rather than Janet Lynn or Midori Ito. IMO the skaters I listed all had similar impact on the sport as Yu Na, while Lynn and Ito are the only skaters who had similar impact on the sport as Kwan had. Well Witt and Henjie as well but Witt was a weaker skater than Kwan, Ito, or Lynn by quite a ways.

[Mayra]

Does anyone think that I'm all wet?

Surely only you'd be able to answer that question? Can't you tell?

[julieann]

There is no way to judge the best in a sport that is well over 100 years old.

[sliver98]

Neither Sasha Cohen was the best pure skater between the two, Yuna is great but even last year i thought Joannie was superior artistically than her. Kwan was good but a little slow on the ice and her jumps were tiny artistically fantastic though.

[Coco]

Not that it excuses a lack of performance, but my gut tells me that YuNa is depressed. Does anyone think that I'm all wet?

I don't know if depression is the right word for it, but I'm sure she's going through a letdown coupled with a loss of purpose and the pressure of all those fans she doesn't want to disappoint. Her whole life was focused on winning the Olympics, and now that she's done it - what next? It must be wierd.

[duane]

I think something about winning the OGM seems to douse the competitive fires in most skaters. Even very competitive skaters like Tara. They just seem to lose motivation.

...and IMO the same would have happened to Michelle.

[gingercrush]

To me Michelle Kwan was an ordinary skater with better than average skills in jumping and her spiral and good artistry (some would say great) who skated at a time when many skaters were less than average and the better skaters tended to be headcases.

[Yunaonlyhope]

Neither Sasha Cohen was the best pure skater between the two, Yuna is great but even last year i thought Joannie was superior artistically than her. Kwan was good but a little slow on the ice and her jumps were tiny artistically fantastic though.

Yuna's LP of last season was a pure, abstract form of art that took the skating to a next level. Joannie's LP was a rehashed, regurgitated seductress story that we saw once again. What is your definition of superior? Come on, you can't really compare Rochette to Yuna, it is like comparing the artistry of Rachele Flatt (the one who muscles through, Rochette equivalent) to Kwan (an artist), who Yuna succeeded.

[riveredge]

If she plans to compete in Sochi she had better get her act together in a hurry. Her skating at Worlds this year was disgraceful for a champion of her caliber who didnt have an injury and wasnt coming off the Olympic high. If her skating has gotten so bad with her new part time approach to skating that she cant even beat Miki Ando what is she going to do against the Russian ladies and a possibly resurgent Mao Asada.

The way she is skating right now is not good enough to win anymore major titles so that she might be continuing is really moot for the moment until she shows some vast improvement in her skating from the atrocity it was at the recent Worlds.

And yet she almost won!

But @ this thread.

This off-season gives me headaches.

[judgejudy27]

I am laughing at the several "almost winning" references as if that is actually something positive considering the situation. Almost winning isnt exactly impressive when the winner is something you havent lost to in 4 years, and who turned in the worst winning performances since 1990. Lets face it, the Yu Na from Vancouver would have won the Worlds this year by atleast 30 points vs what any of the other women turned out at Worlds this year, that is literally how much she has dropped off in the last year. Put Kim's performances from this years Worlds up against her Vancouver performances and they are maybe 55% as good (and that is probably being kind). Of course that is what happens when you dont compete in a whole year and you probably barely trained until the last minute. And the womens event was pitiful all year, if you arent skating at the level to even win this year you will be buried in 2-3 years time with the same skating where surely the level will be infinitely higher than the epic low it was this season.

[judgejudy27]

To me Michelle Kwan was an ordinary skater with better than average skills in jumping and her spiral and good artistry (some would say great) who skated at a time when many skaters were less than average and the better skaters tended to be headcases.

Not judging your opinion but just genuinely curious who you believed these better skaters who were headcases were. I am guessing Cohen was possibly one, not sure on the others though.

[Aussie Willy]

If she plans to compete in Sochi she had better get her act together in a hurry. Her skating at Worlds this year was disgraceful for a champion of her caliber who didnt have an injury and wasnt coming off the Olympic high. If her skating has gotten so bad with her new part time approach to skating that she cant even beat Miki Ando what is she going to do against the Russian ladies and a possibly resurgent Mao Asada.

The way she is skating right now is not good enough to win anymore major titles so that she might be continuing is really moot for the moment until she shows some vast improvement in her skating from the atrocity it was at the recent Worlds.

And she won a Silver medal with that skating OMG shock horror. I am totally mortified and will now need a lobotomy to recover.

I don't get the venom of this thread. Surely there are more important things in life to get upset about and direct anger at. Both are great skaters and have the positives and negatives.

[MR-FAN]

Surely there are more important things in life to get upset about and direct anger at.

Name one!