Who are your all-time favorite skaters?

[SkateBlades17]

Sorry if this is a repeat of an old thread.

Who are your favorite skaters of all-time? It doesn't have to be who you think is the best skater, but who are your favorites?

My favorites are.

Michelle Kwan
Tara Lipinski
Grishuk & Platov

I also like
Torvill & Dean
Brian Boitano
Kurt Browning
Oksana Baiul (from 94 to 96)
Sasha Cohen
Viktor Petrenko
Kristi Yamaguchi
Tatiana Navka
Gordeeva & Grinkov
Johnny Weir
Alexei Yagudin
Evgeny Plushenko

[flipforsynchro]

Michal Brezina. He is so sexually attractive and has nice edges and huge jumps.

[snoopysnake]

Brian Boitano, Kwan, Shen & Zhao, Torvill & Dean

Men's is my favorite discipline. After Brian Boitano, my second favorite skater is Paul Wylie. In men's my other favorites are Robin Cousins, Scott Hamilton, Viktor Petrenko, Evgeni Plushenko, Ryan Jahnke, Stephane Lambiel, Evan Lysacek, Johnny Weir, Tomas Verner, and Daisuke Takahashi.

[nubka]

Plushenko!!

Honorable Mentions:

Brian Joubert
Tara Lipinski
Irina Slutskaya
Sasha Cohen
Emily Samuelson
Ryan Bradley
Jason Brown

[Cherub721]

Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze, Dmitriev & partners, Savchenko & Szolkowy, Grishuk & Platov, Virtue & Moir, Denkova & Staviyski, Anissina & Peizerat, Klimova & Ponomarenko, Alexei Yagudin, Viktor Petrenko, Alexander Abt, Evgeny Plushenko, Phillipe Candeloro, Surya Bonaly, Katarina Witt, Oksana Bauil, Sasha Cohen

[Plusdinfo]

Off the top of my head:
*Maria Butyrskaya, Midori Ito, Tonya Harding, Nicole Bobek, Oksana Baiul, Caryn Kadavy, Yuna Kim, Sasha Cohen, Yuka Sato, Chen Lu, Rory Flack, Karen Kwan.
*Jeffrey Buttle, Stephane Lambiel, Daisuke Takahashi, Kurt Browning, Petr Barna, Paul Wylie, Takahiko Kozuka, Brian Joubert, Christopher Bowman, Rohene Ward's 2002 Vienna Cup exhibition.
*Duchesnay & Duchesnay, Klimova/Ponomarenko, Usova/Zhulin, Torvill/Dean, Virtue/Moir, some of Punsalan/Swallow and Roca/Sur.
*Woetzel/Steuer, Mishkutenok/Dmitriev, Savchenko/Szolkowy, Berezhnaya/Siharulidze (specifically, I think their 2002 Olympics SP is divine), Shen/Zhao.

[oleada]

Savchenko & Szolkowy, Daisuke Takahashi, Sasha Cohen...

[pani]

Too much Part of my favorite skaters:

Klimova/Ponomarenko
Bourne-Kraatz
Silvershtein-Pekareck
Virtue-Moir
Drobysko-Vanagas
Samuelson-Bates
Valova-Vasiliev
Gordeeva-Grinkov
Kazakova-Dmitriev
Woetzel/Steuer
Sale-Pelettier
Shen-Gao
Savchenko & Szolkowy
Volosozhar-Trankov
Brain Orser
Kurt Browning
Viktor Petrenko
Phillipe Candeloro
Alexei Yagudin
Evgenii Plushenko (when he competed with Yagudin it was cool)
Stephane Lambiel
Jeffrey Buttle
Daisuke Takahashi
Yzuru Hanyu
Patrick Chan
Kataina Witt
Oksana Bauil
Arakawa
Yu-Na Kim
Mao Asada
Carolina Kostner
Ashley Wagner

[nuge]

Gordeeva/Grinkov
Grishuk/Platov
Anissina/Pezerait
Denkova/Staviski

All these teams I was besotted with .Davis/White could be on their way on to the list soon

[puretea]

Yuna Kim , Stephane Lambiel , Brian Joubert , Patrick Chan

G & P , T & D, V & M, K & P, K & O, B & K

Savchenko & Szolkowy
Shen & Zhao

[Jaana]

Men
John Curry
Robin Cousins
Philippe Candeloro
Ilia Kulik
Evan Lysacek

Ladies
Dorothy Hamill
Peggy Fleming
Katarina Witt
Oksana Baiul
Shizuka Arakawa
Sasha Cohen
Susanna Pöykiö

Pairs
Kilius & Baumler
Rodnina & Ulanov/Zaitshev
Gordeeva & Grinkov
Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze
Shen & Zhao

Dance
Torvill & Dean
Moiseeva & Minenkov
Anissina & Peizerat
Denkova & Staviyski

[lauravvv]

Men: John Curry, Robin Cousins, Kurt Browning, Stephane Lambiel......(quite a big gap)......Daisuke Takahashi, Jeffrey Buttle, Jeremy Abbott
No, not Alexei Yagudin, although I like and respect him, and was really impressed by at least several of his competition performances and exhibitions, Plushenko - close to that, but even less than Yagudin.

Women: Chen Lu, Michelle Kwan......(big gap)......Yuna Kim, Shizuka Arakawa (as a professional skater)......(another gap)......Carolina Kostner, Miki Ando (mostly in exhibitions), Sarah Meier, Mao Asada
Haven't seen enough programs from Witt to really tell if I like her skating.

Ice Dancers: Torvill/Dean, Klimova/Ponomarenko, Usova/Zhulin, Anissina/Peizerat, Krylova/Ovsyannikov, Drobiazko/Vanagas (more as professional skaters)......(big gap)......Denkova/Staviski, Virtue/Moir, Pechalat/Bourzat, Davis/White

Pairs Skaters: Gordeeva/Grinkov......(big gap)......Savchenko/Szolkowy, Shen/Zhao, Sale/Pelletier (yes, yes - as professional skaters )
I would very probably like Mishkutenok/Dmitriev, if I'd seen more than one program from them . But Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze don't move quite as much as they should.

There are some others whom I haven't seen enough to tell if and how much I like them, but who very probably could be among my favourites if I had seen more of their programs/performances. Yes, my 'Must Watch' list is still so long...

Who of them is my most favourite skater? Well, he is ceratainly not the greatest of them all, probably even artistically (at least not yet), although he is great. But he is from my time, still skating, and artistically at (or near) his peak. In other words, he is real, not a dream from the past in small bad quality videos (maybe that's an exaggeration, but not far from how I often feel). And I simply can't help it. For me, Stephane Lambiel is a combination of personality, attitide (towards skating, towards music and other things), passion, feel for music, sensitiveness, grace, elegance, sophistication, emotionality, intensity, temperament, charm, performing abilities, abilities of a dancer, good taste (well, mostly ), good choreography, diversity/ability to perform in different styles, and beauty + tecnique good enough to allow him to show all of that, perfectionism, capability for hard work, a constant wish to grow, curiosity and thirst for challenges. Added to that, as a personality he is just so classy. Yes, I love him even more now as a professional skater and in exhibitions even more than in competition. Technically he might be past his peak, but he didn't have some of the qualities that he has now, or didn't have them to such an extent when he was at his technical peak. Some of the qualities that I mentioned came (or grew) with time - like elegance, sophistication, diversity.

[Alex Forrest]

Paul Wylie.

[moebius]

Among all disciplines, Gordeeva/Grinkov hands down.

[Lanie]

Let's see...

Sasha Cohen, Gordeeva and Grinkov, Torvill and Dean, the Kerrs, Kurt Browning, Jeremy Abbott, Joannie Rochette... I'm sure I could keep going.

[ChelleC]

Men:
Alexei Yagudin
Kurt Browning
Daisuke Takahashi
Stephane Lambiel
Takahiko Kozuka


Ladies:
Michelle Kwan
Sasha Cohen
Mao Asada
Yuna Kim
Carolina Kostner
Akiko Suzuki

Dance:
Grishuk and Platov
Torvill and Dean
Davis and White

Pairs:
Gordeeva and Grinkov
Shen and Zhao

[Zokko!]

Pairs:
Shen/Zhao, Mishkotionok/Dmitriev, Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze
Dance:
Usova/Zhulin, Klimova/Ponomarenko, Duchesnay/Duchesnay, Krylova/Ovsyannikov, Anissina/Peizerat
Ladies:
Lu Chen, Irina Slutskaya, Oksana Baiul, Shizuka Arakawa
Men:
Alexei Yagudin, Ilia Kulik, Viktor Petrenko, Kurt Browning, Johnny Weir, Stephane Lambiel,
Brian Joubert, Daisuke Takahashi, Nobunari Oda, Takeshi Honda

[blue_idealist]

Men: Kurt Browning, Shawn Sawyer, Elvis Stojko, Michael Weiss, Todd Eldredge, Evan Lysacek, Daisuke Takahashi, Brian Joubert, Stephane Lambiel

Ladies: Elizabeth Manley, Nicole Bobek, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, Maria Butyrskaya, Irina Slutskaya, Laura Lepisto, Mao Asada, Ashley Wagner, Sasha Cohen, Akiko Suzuki

Pairs: Brasseur/Eisler, Mishkutenok/Dmitriev, Sale/Pelletier, Petrova/Tikhonov, Pang/Tong, Shen/Zhao, Savchenko/Szolkowy, Volosozhar/Trankov

Dance: Bourne/Kraatz, Belbin/Agosto, Navarro/Bommentre, Krylova/Ovsiannikov, Pechalat/Bourzat, Denkova/Staviyski, Grishuk/Platov, Duschesnay/Duschesnay, Anissina/Peizerat, Punsalan/Swallow

[GarrAarghHrumph]

Chris Dean is my favorite of all skaters. His posture *alone*... to die for.

I really like Daisuke Takahashi. The man can really dance. He actually studies and understands each style he interprets.

[algonquin]

Kurt Browning