Best Figure Skaters That Never Won Olympic Gold | Page 7 | Golden Skate

Best Figure Skaters That Never Won Olympic Gold

Kelti

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Michelle Kwan
Kurt Browning
Patrick Chan - he had the skate of his life in the Sochi season but peaked 3 months too early :(
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
In general, I don't think figure skaters are particular global superstars. The sport is not globally played ie Africa and S. America have few if nay competitors. The constant changing scoring system among inconsistent or questionable judging, Certain Asada, Kim, Plushenko, Lipinskaya, Kwan, Hamill and Fleming had huge domestic following but internationally not so much and then again more limited to the skating community. The ave person who might watch skating if at all during an olympic year might know the name Tonya Harding for the wrong reasons. I see the names Torvill and Dean but they are very limited to the skating community. In part because back the ice dancing sort of was a situation of inheriting your spot. And in part because ice dancing especially back in 1984 was seen as more dance and not athletic and in part Torvill and Dean read as old. remember seeing that in some marketing class. Jayne Torvill had a very matronly old look. Again marketing. I am not sure martial arts will get you int'l recognition but the point is well taken about other sports. This is not to put down Torvill and Dean or anyone. Sadly skating isn't the most popular sport or where skaters get the most money compared t say tennis, golf, ,basketball, football/soccer (European/intl), hockey. I don't think martial arts woudl make a ss ome don't even consider i really a sport.

I agree the skating is not so popular as the basketball, soccer, tennis etc.

Certain Asada, Kim, Plushenko, Lipinskaya, Kwan, Hamill and Fleming had huge domestic following but internationally not so much and then again more limited to the skating community.

I understand what do you wanted to say. But like it or not you can't compare Kwan, Hamill and Fleming fame to Plushenko for eaxample. Probably those American skaters famous and they had huge domestic following but Plushenko is different. I had a previous post , probably you missed this

-he was a rock star of skating- in Japan 2010 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhgCIV4PY8c probably only Yuzuru receives such thing now. His fans made traffic jam front of his hotel

-In 2010 after his shows in Japan they rented a container because he took home 500kg! (cca 1100lb ) gifts he wanted to give to the orphanages.

- A star in the sky was named after him

- In Japan a new kind of orchids was named after him

- He was not only in Russian textbooks but he was a American physics textbook, they explaned the inertia with his spins, and he was a Japanese Russian language textbook, too

- In 2014 he was invited to an international golf tournament " Mission Hills WCPA" for famous people and athletes. He was in same team with Morgan Freeman who liked him a lot! They laughed together so much! ( Jessica Alba, Nicole Kidman and many sport stars) and many more) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGHBajTpdv4&t=1m20s

- He was invited to the Sport Oscar two times

-Albert, Prince of Monaco invited him and his wife to a ball or festive event..

- In France he had show in Courcheval there were Catherine-Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas , they went to the background after the shows and they wanted to meet with Plushenko personally because Cathrine said he is her favorite athlete or skater..

-there are thousands of fan arts on him

-There are 260 fan montages on his channel on YT now and you believe me there were much more in his long career..Many of them were deleted, because the time flies..but 260 is impressive number of fan videos, right?

-The first ice-rink in the #Maldives has opened at @Jumeirah Vittaveli, inaugurated by Olympic Gold Medallist, Evgeni Plushenko: http://bit.ly/2mA5vKv he gave the city his skates and one of his costumes

-This is funny..when he was in Taiwan! at the first time and the first ice show in there..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubeiQRIkKcU like a rock star! the fans waited him in the airport

I'm editing these just came to my mind today:

-On his first show in Florence he received the key of city.

-there is a Italian racehorse he is named after Plushenko :biggrin:

-some years ago there was a Russian Blue cat in US he was named after Plushenko in New York

- in 2015 Warsawa Plushenko's first Kings on ice show ever in that city there were 20 thousand people!https://www.instagram.com/p/zqGZDXELuK/?modal=true

-In Japan some years ago in one of the cities where the PIW shows was held the mayor of the city invited him to the town hall. All of the workers stood outside in the hallway and applauded him. It was amazing to see.

- Many international fans go to his summer training Pinzolo year after year. Probably you remember Sinorita's name here. She was very popular poster here. She also attended it once.

- His offical site was started in 2009. You can't say it after that time came his peak time...There are 41 564 000 clicks on it even that is a very quiet forum since 11. 2016. Our boss Cekoni the head of the fan base passed away she was a devoted fan and a very conscientious administrator There are posts very rarely but the number of cliks increas nicely. We has learned from Orlov the Russians don't like him anymore :laugh:, those cliks came from forigners.

-At Volvo cup 2013 Plushenko's first competition after his serious operation, before Sochi . The organizer almost cried she couldn't handle the international media interest. "Kovalkova is harassed by calls from the most diverse, sometimes quite exotic, points of the globe. And Olga herself also persistently calls ... ISU (International Skating Union. - Editor's note), so that they can simply advise what she should do now.
The ISU with the council is at a loss. Such a number of journalists (and not only, but more on that below) does not storm, perhaps, the world championships.
"Hundreds of media representatives rush to Plushenko.
Photographers, reporters, television people. From the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Japan. Well, from Russia, of course. And I have only 20 seats behind the glass, no mixed zone, a narrow corridor leads to the locker rooms from the rink." ....


So, you believe me Evgeni Plushenko is the figure skating in Europe and well-known in the world and probably he is well-known among those persons who aren't regular spectators of competitions. Probably it is going to change but I'm not mistaken much. I think the people remember of him not only because of his skating, programs but because of his look and his results, too. They heard his name over long years in news.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
I'm going with Patrick, Kurt , and Michelle because the have Multiple World Titles and individual Olympic Medals. Unfortunately, none of them are gold. Patrick does have a team Gold that I know he loves and that makes me very happy.
 

lesnar001

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
I'm going with Patrick, Kurt , and Michelle because the have Multiple World Titles and individual Olympic Medals. Unfortunately, none of them are gold. Patrick does have a team Gold that I know he loves and that makes me very happy.

I agree with this.
But I would also add Mao Asada to the list.
 

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
Much as I think it should be otherwise, Yuzuru has a sizeable fan base but is not well known in the US, no current skater, domestic or foreign, is (from what I've read, the name most recognised... well, you can all guess :rolleye:).

Mao is huge is Japan, Yuna transcendantly so in Korea, and Yuzuru jawdroppingly so in Japan and in much of Asia. Again, it's different worldviews and we don't always - often - realise this.

The most recognizable/famous skaters in the US (general population; not skating fans) are Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Scott Hamilton. Hanyu doesn't even come close.
ETA: And Tonya Harding.
 

TallyT

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
The most recognizable/famous skaters in the US (general population; not skating fans) are Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Scott Hamilton. Hanyu doesn't even come close.
ETA: And Tonya Harding.

Absolutely agree. Mind you, going by available online and social media stats he does have one of if not the biggest fan base for current skaters in North America, as elsewhere, but it is unquestionably nowhere near his Japanese, Chinese etc fan bases, or the name recognition of the ones you mention. (The ISU completely screwed up exploiting the appeal of the young Asian skaters to worldwide fans of anime/K-Pop/Asian pop culture etc and for Yuzuru's sake, I can't be sorry)

On the other hand, Yuzuru really isn't a part of this thread's list, so I'm wondering, who would you say would be the most famous, as apart from favourite, skaters who never won gold? I don't think you can actually say there is one worldwide: in the US it would be Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, or if you discount notoriety Michelle Kwan; Canada, I would say Kurt; in Japan definitely Mao, with maybe Takahashi coming second. Russia and Europe..? Not sure.

And do we have any names at all for the thread pre-70s? I know film is hard to come by...
 

sarahanne

Spectator
Joined
Jul 24, 2020
Only including those with no OM

Kurt Browning
Todd Eldredge
Johnny Weir
Tai and Randy
Martini and Underhill
Elaine Zayak
Christopher Bowman
Brian Joubert
Takeshi Honda
Miki Ando
Surya Bonaly
Fumie Suguri
Meno and Sand
Duchesnays
Blumberg and Seibert
 

IceDancingQueen

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Kurt Browning (how is this even possible?!)
Elvis Stojko
Brian Joubert
Javier Fernandez (also, how is this possible?)

Michelle Kwan (obvs)
Sasha Cohen (one of the most beautiful skaters ever - if only she could have kept it together)

Usova Zhulin
Bourne Kraatz (their skating skills were ridiculously under-appreciated by the judges - those knees!)
 
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