Let's face it, I've seen more than my fair share of skating in my life,
which may be why CBCSports.ca challenged me to come up with a list of
who I'd choose to skate in a fantasy competition between the 10 best of
all time in each of the four disciplines.
To make it even tougher, I've ranked the skaters in order of how they'd finish in this magical event if I were the sole judge.
I'll start the series this week with the ladies.
Let's face it, I've seen more than my fair share of skating in my life,
which may be why CBCSports.ca challenged me to come up with a list of
who I'd choose to skate in a fantasy competition between the 10 best of
all time in each of the four disciplines.
To make it even tougher, I've ranked the skaters in order of how they'd finish in this magical event if I were the sole judge.
Agree?
Disagree? Feel free to set me straight with your own top 10. I want to
hear from you! Leave your comments at the bottom of this page or give me
a shout on
Twitter.
I'll start the series this week with the ladies. Click on their names to see video of them in action.
1. Barbara Ann Scott, Canada (1948 Olympic champion; 2-time European and world champion; 4-time Canadian champion)
Aside
from being the most gracious person I have ever met, put skating on the
map for a generation of little girls, their daughters and
granddaughters. As a coach, I'll be forever grateful for that. The only
Canadian woman to win Olympic figure skating gold.
2. Yu-Na Kim, South Korea (2010 Olympic champion; 2009 world champion)
Mesmerizing
combination of vixen and debutante who holds the record for highest
score in the short, free and overall. Could beat most of the field with
her skate guards on - she's that good.
3. Dorothy Hamill, United States (1976 Olympic and world champion)
Skated
at my rink for a few summers when we were kids. Watching her saved me a
huge amount of time and pointless effort, because I knew I'd never be
able to free skate like her. But I would be able to rock the "Dorothy
Hamill Wedge" hairdo.
4. Katarina Witt, East Germany (1984, '88 Olympic champion; 4-time world champion)
Love
the fact that she seemed like she was daring the audience to not watch
her. The first to establish a rapport, while skating, with the audience.
The most famous skater to establish a different kind of rapport as a
centrefold.
5. Sarah Hughes, United States (2002 Olympic champion)
A
perfect performances when it counts is very rare in skating, but Hughes
delivered one of them on that special night in Salt Lake City, where
the stars were aligned and she owned the event. Never happened again for
her.
6. Sonja Henie, Norway (1928, '32, '36 Olympic champion; 10-time world champion.
The
idol of Barbara Ann Scott, Henie went on to be one of the highest-paid
Hollywood actresses of her day. Given the weight of the costumes of her
day, and the inconsistencies of outdoor ice surfaces, I'm impressed at
the height of her jumps and speed of her spins.
7. Michelle Kwan, United States (1998 Olympic silver medallist; 2002 Olympic bronze medallist; 5-time world champion)
When she skated her
Salome
program on her way to becoming the 1996 world champion, she became the
first skater for me whose choreography and music were an integral part
of the program and not just a backdrop for jumps and spins. Thanks, Lori
Nichol! Also gets full marks for her diplomatic missions promoting
education and American values as an unpaid emissary since 2006.
8. Elizabeth Manley, Canada (1988 Olympic silver medallist)
I'm
a sucker for an underdog. Manley showed up in Calgary virtually ignored
by the pundits as a result of some disastrous results preceding the
Olympics. I know I wasn't the only one on a couch in Canada who was
yelling "Go Liz!" at the TV.
9. Midori Ito, Japan (1992 Olympic silver medallist; '89 world champion)
As
the first woman to perform a triple/triple jump in competition as well
as a triple Axel, she belongs on this list. Landing over the boards and
on the camera in the corner after a triple Lutz combination at the 1991
worlds and then apologizing to the cameraman after her skate earns Ito
top spot on "Most Polite Athletes Ever" list.
10. Karen Magnussen, Canada (1973 world champion, '72 Olympic silver medallist)
I'm
fascinated by anyone who can have stress fractures in both legs and
continue skating before being diagnosed. Spending several weeks in a
wheelchair in 1969, Magnussen decided to continue her skating and
reached the pinnacle of her career a scant three years later. My vote
for one of the gutsier sports comebacks. (As an aside, she was my
childhood skating hero and one of the few people to render me speechless
when I met her in 2010. It was like being a nervous 10-year-old again!)
Want
to see Battle of the Blades in person? Follow Pj Kwong on Twitter next
week, and answer her question for your chance to win tickets.
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Canada's Barbara Ann Scott, left, won Olympic gold on the outdoor rink at St. Moritz in 1948. (Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty Images)
PJ Kwong
PJ is a self-proclaimed Word Broker who goes by the motto: I read them. I write them. I speak them. A degree from the University of Toronto studying Modern Languages has been put to good use as a bilingual PA announcer for, among other things, the last 5 Olympic Games, the FIFA U-20 2007 Men's World Cup and numerous international figure skating events since 1993.
