Who are the fastest figure skaters?

[Globetrotter]

For the men, Han Yan. As Kurt once said, it's almost reckless with how fast he skates.



Carolina is easily the fastest ladies skater ever when seen irl but looks slow through a screen for whatever reason. Also, compared to someone like Yuna (who flew into her jumps), Carolina was cautious and slower going into her elements.



Maybe relative to her size? But compared to someone equally petite like Ekaterina Gordeeva, I can't say I agree.

I think CaroK look slower on TV due to her more statuesque build but if you have seen her live, she is incredibly fast and definitely has stronger SS than Yuna. Yuna's strength was she goes full speed into the jumps but so does CaroK except that I did notice that the latter is especially cautious and slow down into spins. I guess it's because spins are CaroK's biggest weakness. Overall, Caro has probably the strongest SS among her peers and her strength really is how she can control and vary speed rather than bring a speed truck all the way.

 

[treeloving]

Maybe that's why, in fact I always tought that Yuna was amazing because she entered her own elements like she was competing in F1. And maybe seen that on TV doesn't help either.

You should watch Kostner in her earlier year like 2004 - 2007 , her speed ,hyperbolically, was almost at speed skating level.

 

[Skater Boy]

Actually, the top three Canadian Women are dangerously fast skaters

-Alaine, Katelyn and Gabby. All three have trouble or had past issues controlling very large jumps as they enter them at top speed.

Hmm maybe the Canadian curse = didn't Liz Manley and Josee Chouinard both have great speed and power in their skating and their jumps were huge when on but that was the problem - controlling them

 

[Ares]

Men: Uno, Hanyu, Chan and Han. All top men are pretty fast though.
Women: Kostner (in the past she was one of the fastest visually men & women combjned, we don't know how it is now) , Radionova, Chartrand, Gold.

 

[Warwick360]

Mirai is fast too, if we're throwing in names

 

[TryMeLater]

I think CaroK look slower on TV due to her more statuesque build but if you have seen her live, she is incredibly fast and definitely has stronger SS than Yuna. Yuna's strength was she goes full speed into the jumps but so does CaroK except that I did notice that the latter is especially cautious and slow down into spins. I guess it's because spins are CaroK's biggest weakness. Overall, Caro has probably the strongest SS among her peers and her strength really is how she can control and vary speed rather than bring a speed truck all the way.

I recall hearing a commentator say that the main thing her team did in order to bring her consistency up later in her career was to slow her down.

 

[aftertherain]

Nam Nguyen.

(Just kidding.)

 

[gravy]

https://youtu.be/9qSCT15IRpU?t=1m58s Just look at the spiral. And it's not just the spiral, the whole speed into things, barring the spins, are phenomenal.

Another example: https://youtu.be/omkV2Za9nws?t=37

 

[Globetrotter]

I recall hearing a commentator say that the main thing her team did in order to bring her consistency up later in her career was to slow her down.

That is true. She was a speed skater in her earlier years and while she had very strong basics, she kept getting low balled in PCS SS, primarily as she was a lightning fast speed truck all the way, where SS judging really evaluated ability to vary and change speed among others. That was probably part of the reason as well, to get her to go fast some place in the program and slow down at others to get better choreo. Can you imagine how awful the ave maria choreo will be if it's speed skated all the way? There's better ways to showcase SS and CH over the speed truck approach but it's all part of growing and maturing. Neither Yuna, Mao nor Caro got to their level of PCS right rom the start but took time to grow and work hard into their respective strengths which is what I really appreciated.

 

[nieves]

At worlds last year I thought radionova skates the fastest, and much faster than Gracie. Gabby is also very fast. I was actually quite surprised how slow Mao was. This of course doesn't make a skater better or worse (I much prefer Mao TO the aforementioned).

 

[Dr. Jenn]

Can someone who is a skater please explain to me why certain skaters (e.g., Nam) are slow, while those listed in this thread are fast? Is it strictly about technique (e.g., deeper edges, like Patrick)? Is it a combination of technique and body type? There doesn't seem to be anything particularly in common across this list with regard to the latter, though, from what I can see. For skaters like Nam and Polina E. though, I wonder if their lack of speed is related to their growth spurts, such that they are currently very lanky without much muscle mass. Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide!

 

[FlattFan]

Some people are fast, but their movements are not busy, so they don't look fast. Some uses more crossover to gain speed, which is also deceptive. For example, Ashley is ok speed wise after a bunch of cross overs, but she can't retain the speed into her jumps for whatever reason. Maybe her blade control isn't optimal.
Some people like Mao who isn't that fast, but she doesn't rely on cross overs to gain speed. Mao is more ice dancer type like Davis & White. When I first saw them live, I was surprised they are a bit slow.

If you want truly fast, watch the pairs. They do a lot of cross overs and their speed is phenomenal.

I think as long as you're not crawling and can execute all your elements to the highest standard, speed wouldn't hold you back.

 

[Ophelia]

Patrick Chan was super fast. And smooooooth.

 

[sarama]

Kim Yuna...going into her opening triple-triples in particular, she has so much speed. It looks like she's headed for a bad crash with the boards but nope, perfectly landed every (I'm assuming) time. It's very similar to when I watch Gracie, but in that case the crash does happen.

I was always in awe of Yuna's uncanny ability to know exactly where she is on the ice and also the awareness and control of her power. She used to go into those triple Lutzes at full speed without even having to glance behind her shoulder and she always landed her jumps with the right amount of distance from the boards and perfectly on the music.... I think these seemingly unimportant details are what made her skating that impressive!

 

[da96103]

How about Midori Ito? Was she fast in her day?

 

[da96103]

I was always in awe of Yuna's uncanny ability to know exactly where she is on the ice and also the awareness and control of her power. She used to go into those triple Lutzes at full speed without even having to glance behind her shoulder and she always landed her jumps with the right amount of distance from the boards and perfectly on the music.... I think these seemingly unimportant details are what made her skating that impressive!

I remember when Yuna won her Olympic Gold medal, her mother said in an interview that even the weight of her necklace in the Gershwin program was taken into account.

 

[sunnystars]

She used to go into those triple Lutzes at full speed without even having to glance behind her shoulder and she always landed her jumps with the right amount of distance from the boards and perfectly on the music.

I think Yuna spoiled me too much with this ability. Or at least by effectively using her transitions.
I get annoyed when a skater blatantly shoulder check when going into a jump. I'm not gonna say that it's due to lack of spatial awareness since rinks do vary in size. They should at least know how to cope over the difference. Like use less crossovers, or change your transition and what not.

 

[Tolstoj]

Anna Pogorilaya: we've already proved this at Worlds, she is the best femal active skater in terms of speed / ice coverage.

Her falls are huge because she doesn't slow down to set those jumps, just like Carolina Kostner in the past.

 

[qwertyskates]

Can someone who is a skater please explain to me why certain skaters (e.g., Nam) are slow, while those listed in this thread are fast? Is it strictly about technique (e.g., deeper edges, like Patrick)? Is it a combination of technique and body type? There doesn't seem to be anything particularly in common across this list with regard to the latter, though, from what I can see. For skaters like Nam and Polina E. though, I wonder if their lack of speed is related to their growth spurts, such that they are currently very lanky without much muscle mass. Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide!

I'm not an expert, but I think those who skate with a lower body centre of gravity, deeper knees, edges, etc. skate faster. This helps to propel the speed of the skater. The lankier skaters like Nam and Polina *might* be at a slight disadvantage, though I feel their slenderness ratio helps in their jumping ability. Will be interested to hear experts' take on this too.

 

[mrrice]

Some of you youngin's probably don't know this skater but.....Elena Liashenko was ridiculously fast as was Fumie Suguri!!!! I'll find a clip. For Men, I give edges to Patrick and even though he looks like he's skating in slow motion....Todd Eldredge has GIANT strokes and was very fast and so was Elvis Stojko.

Here's Elvis from 2000 Worlds:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tbhNOCxies