Better skater- Yamaguchi or Yu Na Kim

[judgejudy27]

Both are Olympic Champions. Both usually win but arent as popular with skating fans as their achrivals Midori Ito and Mao Asada. Both women shied away from the risk and reward of the triple axel their main rival(s) were doing. Both have their share of fans and detractors alike. Both are known for their consistent jumping and quiet elegance on the ice. Which do you consider the better skater- Kristi Yamaguchi or Yu Na Kim.

[seaner00]

I would have to say Yu Na Kim.
Kristi had a lot of problems with her triple salchow during her 92 Olympics and Worlds.
Yu Na is also skating for a longer period of time, more than Kristi's 4 years in international competition so I think she will eventually if not already do more than Kristi has.

[overedge]

Both women shied away from the risk and reward of the triple axel their main rival(s) were doing.

Tonya Harding landed four triple axels in competition, all of them in a single year, and even then she didn't win every competition in which she landed the triple axel. And she was the only woman at that level doing the triple axel, so it's not like Kristi Yamaguchi was being pressured by a bunch of competitors with a jump she didn't have. Yamaguchi didn't "sh[y] away" from doing the triple axel, because there was no reason for her to do it, and no reward in doing so. She could win very consistently without it.

[judgejudy27]

Tonya Harding landed four triple axels in competition, all of them in a single year, and even then she didn't win every competition in which she landed the triple axel. And she was the only woman at that level doing the triple axel, so it's not like Kristi Yamaguchi was being pressured by a bunch of competitors with a jump she didn't have. Yamaguchi didn't "sh[y] away" from doing the triple axel, because there was no reason for her to do it, and no reward in doing so. She could win very consistently without it.

Harding was not the only women at that level doing the triple axel, Ito was doing it as well and was Kristi's main rival. And if Ito landed the triple axel then Kristi was in huge trouble. Midori Ito beat Yamaguchi in every competition she successfully landed a triple axel except for the 92 Olympics because she fell in the short. And even Harding beat Yamaguchi 2 of 3 times she landed the triple axel at 91 U.S Nationals and 91 Skate America. The one time she didnt was at the 91 Worlds were she blew 3 of her other 6 planned triples.

In Kristi's 2 Championships seasons she lost 3 times- 91 Nationals, 91 Skate America, and 91 Lalique. So it wasnt ever clear she could win consistently without it, she was always at risk if Ito and Harding skated well with it.

If one of Kim or Yamaguchi didnt have to worry about their rivals triple axel it was really Kim. COP is very different than 6.0 and by the scores it seems Asada has no chance against a clean Kim even with her triple axels.

[Carmen Ovsiannikov]

Well, already I'm in the minority but as an overall skater (not just jumping) I chose Kristi Yamaguchi and at the risk of being flamed I even think that at the moment and especiallly last season Yu Na (I do like her) was a tiny bit overrated. Also after last season I wouldn't say that Mao is more popular than Yu Na at all. IIRC, last season the commentators and fans mostly talked about Yu Na being the dominant skater and the judges seemed to agree and marked her as such with record breaking marks. No one gave Mao a snowballs chance in hell to win the gold in Vancouver even if she had skated clean.

It is true that both Tonya Harding and Midori Ito had triple axels in their jumping arsenals but those two ladies gained attention for those jumps because during Kristi's time as an amateur competitor they were the exception to the rule. The technical content needed to win championships still was nowhere near what it is today. Also both Tonya and Midori lacked in the artistic merit department where Kristi was better. In all fairness Kristi did benefit from a little luck as well in that Tonya and Midori has missed jumps when it counted.

As I said I do like Yu Na but last season while she is working on being an elegant skater I still feel it's in the TES in which she is stronger. I haven't seen her this season, not even in exhibition so I'm not sure if I would feel differently but last year I felt that she still doesn't have a true connection with her music. She's working on improving her interpretation but it still feels/felt choreographed. Meaning when she did arm movement or changed her facial expression it didn't seem as if she really felt it but only that was the part of the program in which she was supposed to do this or that.

[Vash01]

Tonya Harding landed four triple axels in competition, all of them in a single year, and even then she didn't win every competition in which she landed the triple axel. And she was the only woman at that level doing the triple axel, so it's not like Kristi Yamaguchi was being pressured by a bunch of competitors with a jump she didn't have. Yamaguchi didn't "sh[y] away" from doing the triple axel, because there was no reason for her to do it, and no reward in doing so. She could win very consistently without it.

How did you forget Midori Ito? She was landing the triple axels in competition consistently. If Midori had landed the triple axel in both the SP (she did not try it in the SP in the 1992 Oly) and the two she had planned in the LP, she would have definitely beaten Kristi for the OGM. Kristi's main rival on the world stage was Midori, not Tonya.

[CantALoop]

Yamaguchi for lines/posture, although her jumps were tiny and even smaller compared to Yu-Na's. The tie breaker for me was that only one of them was a pair skater

[briancoogaert]

YuNa is definitely a better technician skater. Kristi has better lines, emotion...

[antmanb]

I voted for Yamaguchi just to see if some posters heads would explode

[briancoogaert]

I voted for Yamaguchi just to see if some posters heads would explode

[MikiAndoFan#1]

I voted for Yamaguchi just to see if some posters heads would explode

[miki88]

I'm not sure if I would say Kim and Kristi's styles are similar. Kim is elegant but I wouldn't say it is a "quiet elegance." She's more dramatic and dynamic. As an amateur, I would give it to Kim for better programs. If we take into their overall careers, Kristi has the edge.

[aliceanne]

Kristi certainly wasn't the jumper that Yuna is but she maintained her jumping ability through the triple lutz for many years after she went pro. I can't think of any other female skater who did. Kristi was also a 2 time national medalist at pairs. She certainly was a consistent and well-rounded skater.

How would Yuna have done competitively if she had had to train figures while growing up and was unable to earn money from skating before turning pro? That is something we will never know.

[RumbleFish]

Mao-chan, Miki-chan,
頑張れ。頑張れ。

[Rex]

I found Yama to be a much more interesting skater once she turned pro.

[PashaFan]

I found Yama to be a much more interesting skater once she turned pro.

I agree. I was more of a Nancy Kerrigan fan when Kristi was skating.
Kristi is one of the best Pro skaters out there.
She has used so many different types of themes in her programmes.
Kim is VERY talented but for me a little too young at the moment to show the emotions of Kristi.
Kristi has life experience. Her routine to Bridge Over Troubled Water will live with me forever. But in terms of her World & Olympic career I think they are very close.
Kristi made a lot of errors in her routines, more than Kim does in hers.
But for Gala & Show routines Kristi is one of the best (My fave is Katarina Witt).

[Triple Butz]

I would have to say Yu Na Kim.
Kristi had a lot of problems with her triple salchow during her 92 Olympics and Worlds.
Yu Na is also skating for a longer period of time, more than Kristi's 4 years in international competition so I think she will eventually if not already do more than Kristi has.

Yes, and YuNa's Triple Loop jump at the Olympics was just gorgeous...

I voted for Yuna, I feel she has better skating skills and presentation and agree with those that Kristi didn't really develop until AFTER the OGM.

[Rex]

I agree. I was more of a Nancy Kerrigan fan when Kristi was skating.
Kristi is one of the best Pro skaters out there.
She has used so many different types of themes in her programmes.
Kim is VERY talented but for me a little too young at the moment to show the emotions of Kristi.
Kristi has life experience. Her routine to Bridge Over Troubled Water will live with me forever. But in terms of her World & Olympic career I think they are very close.
Kristi made a lot of errors in her routines, more than Kim does in hers.
But for Gala & Show routines Kristi is one of the best (My fave is Katarina Witt).

Remember the "Doop-Doop"? I think that was the name of it. She did it on the pro circuit for a long time.

[overedge]

How did you forget Midori Ito? She was landing the triple axels in competition consistently. If Midori had landed the triple axel in both the SP (she did not try it in the SP in the 1992 Oly) and the two she had planned in the LP, she would have definitely beaten Kristi for the OGM. Kristi's main rival on the world stage was Midori, not Tonya.

Many of Ito's triple axels were landed in competitions that Yamaguchi wasn't participating in (e.g. Japanese championships). Tonya Harding was more of a rival to Yamaguchi simply because they were both American and so competed in more events against each other.

And I don't agree that Ito would have beaten Yamaguchi in the Olympics if she had landed those three triple axels. Yamaguchi was definitely the more artistic/interpretive skater, and that would have been very difficult to beat purely on technical scores.

[judgejudy27]

Ito skating her best would get 5.9s and 6.0s on technical scores, and 5.8s and 5.9s on artistic scores. That would definitely be enough to win, especialy with how Kristi skated in Albertville which wasnt great at all. Kristi has never beaten Ito in any event where she landed the triple axel and was in the top 3 after the SP.

Actually Ito landing 2 triple axels might get straight 6.0s in technical scores since she managed many of them if she skated clean with only 1 in the past.