All Time Favorite Figure Skaters

[Mister Obvious]

Alright, let's do a threat assessment on Ilia Malinin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilia_Malinin



It's definitely giving "intense" and "oh, shit" vibes.

Yuzuru is prolly glad he's retired. But then again, I haven't even pushed play yet.

0:20 alrighty, well. Considering he's only 20, he's definitely gonna be fucking them up for years to come.

0:27 "He's gotta keep his cool!" Lol, my guy... this boy is not sweating it whatsofuckingever and if you can't see that, then you don't know what you're looking at.

If figure skating has been lacking anything in the past several years, since Yuruzu left the scene, and probably even before that, then I think Malinin might be bringing it back. It's serving mid '90s realness to me.

Ilia Malinin is a strong contender for a medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He is known as the "quad god" for his incredible jumping ability.

Yeah, everybody else is fucked. I feel bad for 'em, even though I dunno who they are cuz I don't keep up with this stuff.

I can just tell you that Nathan is definitely not going up against that. Not a chance in hell. He's better off being a doctor, not even because he couldn't win necessarily, but just because... it ain't really worth it, especially since he already won once.

0:48 this guy is like an ice skating savant, the shit ain't even normal.

Fucking great outfit too, just enough glitz but still manly.

Great music too. I wasn't really digging the songs Nathan was skating to, and I notice I can tune out the ad banners easily watching this Ilia fella.

1:52 he's excellent.

2:29 okay so he fell, whatever. He'd still curbstomp Nathan.

Roflmao, okay okay I'm joking. Lmfao I just like saying curbstomp.

So apparently he hasn't done the Olympics yet, but he's 2024 and 2025 World Champion...

https://people.com/ilia-malinin-olympics...r-11722632

Let's check out this interview and try to size him up...



1:00 aw, he seems like a nice feller. Both of his parents being figure skaters who competed in the Olympics is kind of a bad sign though. I think he'd have been more likely to get that gold if he had been a random prodigy instead. He was prolly forced into this whole thing.

This is pretty new, let's see how he's doing these days and I'll make my final judgement...



Check out the "blood" on his collar and sleeve, he's definitely got unique style.

Another great musical choice. I like this guy.

1:30 he's totally nailing it so far. I think my first impressions of him were accurate, but we'll just have to see.

1:50 that wasn't a total success, but I have to say, the way he reacted to it was top notch excellence, you can tell he's been doing this basically since he popped out of the womb.

This one is even newer...



Well. If he does go to the Olympics, he'll do better than his parents did, that's for damn sure. Lol, no shade.

I strongly believe that if this had been his genuine passion and not forced on him by his parents, he'd probably be the best in the world today. He's pretty damn amazing considering.

He needs to get his shit together and win that gold though, he's already made a huge name for himself, might as well go all the way. Even if he doesn't win gold, it'd still be worth it to go to the Olympics.

Prolly only like another 4 years left for him to do that. Maybe he should go to medical school too.



Maybe he doesn't like his outfits and that throws him off. He seems great when he's dressed more casually.

He really is amazing. I personally believe in him. Go Ilia!

1:55 I wonder if these song choices are digs at his parents, lmao.

2:23 if I was gonna get all sporty and route for somebody, it'd definitely be him.

I wanna keep an eye on this one, but I'll totally forget about the whole nine in a couple days.

[Mister Obvious]

Mostly I just wanna watch more Yuzuru Hanyu.

He's got the magic, what can I say.

[Mister Obvious]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ol...re_skating

Gillis Grafstrom and Sonja Henie each won the Olympic gold medal THREE TIMES IN A ROW.

2036 will mark ONE HUNDRED YEARS since anyone has won 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals in figure skating.

100 years, man. ONE HUNDRED FREAKING FRACKING YEARSSSSSs.

Count 'em, 100.

So I mean, either shit has changed and the sport is too different from what it started out as, or the way the sport is judged at the Olympics has changed too much...

Or there really just hasn't been anyone as good as these two in THAT LONG.

And if you wanna talk about World Championships, Ulrich Salchow has 10 gold medals, the last of which he won ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. 114. ONE. ONE. FOUR.

His female counterpart Sonja Henie also holds a total of 10 gold medals. So they are EQUALS when it comes to gold medals.

Are the World Championships judged differently now, just like the Olympics? Is that why there hasn't been anyone else like these two in 100 years??

Or were they really just THAT GOOD??

And if you wanna go with who has the most medals IN GENERAL...

Karl Emil Julius Ulrich Salchow.

The undefeated world champion of figure skating is Ulrich Salchow.

Period.

That's it.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, he is the master undefeated champion #1 human figure skater of all time.

And he even SAT ONE OUT:

Salchow did not compete in the 1906 World Championships that were held in Munich, as he feared that he would not be judged fairly against Gilbert Fuchs of Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_Salchow

He'd have FUCKING ELEVEN World Championship gold medals if it wasn't for that tough decision he had to make.

Fucking guaranteed.

And why did he "only" win Olympic gold once??

Because the Olympics started AT THE END of his career...

When figure skating was first contested at the Summer Olympic Games in London (1908), Salchow also won the title with ease and became one of the oldest figure skating Olympic champions.

He won gold at age THIRTY FREAKING ONE, which is OLD AS HELL for figure skaters by today's standards, no shade!?

This guy:

https://i.imgur.com/lyMa7TQ.jpeg

THIS GUY:

https://i.imgur.com/yQDCPXs.jpeg

THIS GUYYYYYY:



Is technically the greatest figure skater of all time.

And TBH...

Even though the video is ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN YEARS OLLLLDDDDDD...

It's pretty good quality actually, I mean you really can't disqualify him for having suck historical video, it's a miracle that shit even exists.

It's such a miracle and so hard to find that I'm actually gonna go ahead and rip that shit for my own personal archive.

Technically, Ulrich Salchow and Sonja Henie are the *CURRENT REIGNING* King and Queen of figure skaters.

Ulrich Salchow, a Swedish figure skater, has won the most medals in the history of figure skating, with a total of 13 medals at the World Figure Skating Championships. He won 10 gold medals, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals between 1898 and 1913.

112 years since the last time the world's greatest figure skater curbstomped his opponents.

[Mister Obvious]

2036 will mark ONE HUNDRED YEARS since anyone has won 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals in figure skating.

So the next one is 2026, then 2030, then 2034...

What are the odds that somebody's just gonna happen to come along and win 3 Olympic gold medals in a row by then??

Mathematically, it COULD happen. But I seriously doubt it.

There hasn't been a twice consecutive female singles winner since Katarina Witt in 1988.

As for the male singles, Yuzuru was the last twice consecutive winner in 2018.

Maybe this cold streak for the female singles increases the odds that it WILL be a female this time.

The 2022 Olympics were apparently a CLUSTERFUCK due to a Russian chick being outed for doping...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamila_Valieva

But a positive doping test for a banned substance from one of the women's event skaters, Kamila Valieva, put the final standings in question. The International Olympic Committee decided to postpone the awarding of any medals and the skaters left Beijing without knowing the outcome.

https://time.com/7008872/team-usa-figure...r-olympics

EVERYBODY got fucked over because of this.

Anna Shcherbakova won female singles, never heard of her...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Shcherbakova

I will have to size her up, because right now she's probably the best bet for the triple gold medal record being matched again.

Nathan Chen won men's singles in 2022 but apparently didn't get his medal til 2024...

Nathan Chen received his gold medal for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics during a special ceremony held in Paris on August 7, 2024. While he won the gold medal in the men's singles competition during the Beijing Games in February 2022, the official awarding of the medals for the team event, where the US team secured first place, was delayed due to a doping case involving a Russian skater.

We know Nathan won't be competing in the Olympics again, so there is currently no male candidate for matching the triple gold medal streak.

Anna Shcherbakova is the best known bet for matching the record...

She was born in 2004, so she would be 26 during the 2030 Olympics. She could match the record if she wins the next 2.

It ain't gonna happen, I can just feel it.

Kamila Valieva is 19 right now, she would've had a better chance. Too bad she was "DOPING"!? What the fuck does that even mean?? What'd they find in her system?? How do we know that shit wasn't a conspiracy??



Katarina Witt was 23 on her last gold medal win. Yuzuru was 24.

I'm thinking there will have to be a new skater who will need to pop up at the Olympics in 2026 if anyone has a prayer of matching the streak, and they'd have to be super young.

But what's the point of matching the streak?? Yeah it'd be cool, but really what we need is somebody to win FOUR CONSECUTIVE GOLD MEDALS.

Lmfao. You know what... I bet that's not even possible because it's a 12 year span. If they started at 18, they'd have to win the last one at 30. It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely.

Is there an age requirement for the Olympics??

Yes, there is an age requirement for figure skating at the Olympics. The minimum age was raised to 17 years old for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

So that means that if someone was gonna win gold 4 times in a row, they'd likely have to start at 17, ending things off at 29.

Man...

I just don't see it happening.

The triple win could get matched by 2034. That's within the realm of possibility. UNLIKELY, but possible.

A quad win though...

I just think it's unlikely to ever happen.

So the only question is...

Who will be the next figure skater to win 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals?

I bet we'll go 100 years for sure. Nobody's gonna come along and win 3 in a row by 2034.

It may not even happen for like the next 50 years or longer.

Which is CRAZY.

And whoever it is?? I mean they're gonna be a total fucking legend.

[Mister Obvious]

There's gotta be some way to find out who is even gonna be competing in the 2026 Olympics so that predictions can be made.

I don't know anybody in the game. I still gotta look into that Shcherbakova chick.

As for the males, Ilia Malinin isn't gonna be our guy because he'd have to win 2026 in the first place, but he'd be 30 in 2034, no dice. I don't see anybody winning for the 3rd time in a row at that age. And as incredible as he is, the guy seems to fall a lot, God bless him.

I gotta find out who is up and coming on the scene. I wanna know if this record has a chance of getting matched before the 100 year mark. I may not see it happen in my lifetime and I find that intriguing. I'm trying to gauge who are the best figure skaters alive in my lifetime.

[Mister Obvious]

So as it stands right now, the most "recent" best and highest decorated figure skater is Sonja Henie, b. 1912, d. 1969.

That's fucking insane.

We need some new up in here, I'm sorry but great fucking Scott.

[Mister Obvious]

Earth to God, send more figure skaters, I'm so for real.

[Mister Obvious]

The shit is unacceptable, it doesn't even make sense.

[Mister Obvious]

Well, I guess the best place to start would be looking at the current World Championship stats to see who the fuck is on there.

[Mister Obvious]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Figu...mpionships

So for females we have Alysa Liu...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alysa_Liu

Alysa Liu, the American figure skater, is actively working towards competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.

And for males we have Ilia Malinin.

That's it.

That's all.

There are basically no other contenders.

Alysa is 19, if she makes it to the '26 Olympics and wins gold, she could potentially match the record in 2034 at age 29.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina will feature figure skating with athletes from various nations. While the specific athletes who will compete are not yet known (as qualification events are still ongoing), some prominent names expected to contend include Ilia Malinin, Adelia Petrosian, Madison Chock, and Evan Bates.

Her name isn't even listed here, sooo.

Adeliia Petrosian is 18...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeliia_Petrosian

She could have a chance to match the streak.

She's Russian, but at least her name doesn't end in "ova" like the last 3 bitches who won the Olympic gold medal.

I'ma keep it real, I am so not interested in the female skaters at all.

According to a quick search, it looks like her fans are pretty sure she's gonna be the next Olympic champion.

At her age, she definitely has time to match the record, so I hope they're right.

But man, who am I kidding, no one is gonna match that fucking record.

It'll prolly be another 100 years...

[Mister Obvious]

Alright, let's start with the last winner, Anna Shcherbakova...



0:51 wait a damn minute, is the Michael Myers/Halloween theme?!?!!?!??!?!??!?!!?!

Gurrrrl, no you didn't!!!!!??!

I'm trying to look it up to verify, but I can't find anything. It sure the hell sounds like it though.

1:25 she's awesome and beautiful, but I think she's probably gonna be a one-off winner, cuz y'know, most of them are.

I don't think it's gonna be her.

I don't really like the outfit either, the dark bottoms situation just looks strange to me, but that's totally nitpicking.

2:34 meh. I'm gonna move along to one more vid.



Much better outfit here.

0:49 don't think I've ever seen anybody do that before, I dig it but it kinda looked like a save.

Wait a second... this was the one where Kamila Valieva fucked everybody over, does that mean SHE was supposed to win the gold? Cuz that would mean Shcherbakova was second place in reality.

Oh my God...

In the 2022 Winter Olympics, Kamila Valieva, representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), initially won the team figure skating gold medal.

Yo we gotta look at her instead, even though it's pointless her cuz whole record got fucked up.

I mean, no shade but, Shcherbakova only won gold on a super unfortunate technicality linked to Kamila "doping", whatever the fuck that means. How did they even find out she was doping?? Let's check out her skating and then I'll decide if I'm suspicious about it...



0:19 she's already way better than the other chick.

1:30 well, I like her better but I still don't even like her that much.



I'm not really sensing a conspiracy here. She looks extremely competitive and like she'd do anything to win that shit.

0:48 fucking niiiiice.

1:04 bit of a fail.

Jeez man... what the fuck is going on with these figure skaters these days, are we going through a dry spell or something?? How long has this been going on???

1:28 the red gloves do look great though.

Time to judge Alysa Liu...



1:13 flawless, impressive.

1:34 fkn amazing.

2:16 well placed with the music to cover any imperfections, clever.

She's definitely exquisite.

2:52 impeccable.

This is from May...

Liu, after a three-year hiatus, is returning to skating on her own terms. Her practicing routine is pretty laid-back compared to the grueling sessions she endured when she was younger.

She's not gonna be the one.

Alrighty well, let's check out what appears to be our last hope on the women's side of things, Adeliia Petrosian...



0:57 savagery, definitely a beast.

1:27 - 1:37 okay, I am seeing it.

2:16 pretty dang stunning man.

3:15 she does some killer footwork, very good.

4:02 sweet fuck, that's some of the coolest shit I've ever seen anybody do on the ice.

I can definitely see her winning.



0:52 well she fell pretty much immediately, but I have to say, her song choices are excellent.

1:25 she really is wicked good though, I'm slippin' into a trance.

2:38 I'm slain.

She's probably our best chance as far as the females go, and I bet she'd curbstomp Ilia at the Olympics, he's lucky she's not a dude.

[Mister Obvious]

2026 Olympics Notable Male Singles Skaters to Watch:

1. Ilia Malinin (USA): Known for his quadruple jumps and unique skating style, he is a strong contender.

2. Yuma Kagiyama (Japan): Olympic silver medalist and a consistent challenger.

3. Adam Siao Him Fa (France): A rising star with the potential to challenge the top skaters.

4. Nikolaj Memola (Italy): A strong Italian skater with potential on home ice.

We already sized up Ilia, he's great but I am not 100% convinced on his ability to win the gold. I'd love to be proven wrong though. I'd love to say he's the one, being that he's Mr. Quad God and all, but he seems to fuck up kinda frequently.

Yuma Kagiyama, never heard of him...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_Kagiyama

He's 22, but he looks 14. I would say that he COULD pull off a triple Olympic win by 31, judging by looks alone.

Gotta check him out though...



It's a bad sign that he was already at the Olympics and didn't win gold, he's likely not our guy. But I wanna see what he's got anyway.

0:23 awwwwe, I love him already. This ain't fool's gold right here honey, this is the real deal. I can already tell his style is more on the classical side.

1:07 he's fantastic.

2:42 I love him, he's delightful.

Ilia would curbstomp him if he could stop falling though.

From this year...



1:05 he's wonderful, fucking adorable 10 outta 10 for personality and charisma.

Not a single flaw, total perfection, great footwork.

Too bad he didn't get the gold the first time at the Olympics. I think he could have done a triple streak.

Alright, who else do we have...

Adam Siao Him Fa, he's 24. I'm sure he's great but he ain't gonna do a triple streak.

Nikolaj Memola, he's 21, biggest win so far is European Championships. He's not our guy, but might as well have a look at him since he's Italian and that's kinda different...



0:22 lol okay, damn. Go ahead with your bad self Mr. Italian guy. I don't even know what to say.

He does have the perfect male figure skater body though, that's for sure. Very sleek and elegant.

0:54 dude see this is why I can't stand commentators, he fucking nailed what he CHOSE to do based on what he felt like he could pull off, my guy, if you hadn't said anything, no one would have been the wiser.

1:09 this guy is good.

If he was younger I'd totally believe he could do a triple streak.

Oh well, I guess Ilia better get his shit straight. Looks like there's no other hope for men's singles.

[Mister Obvious]

So a lot of people are throwing this chick's name around...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ami_Nakai



0:55 easy to see why.

She's 17, so she could definitely be a gold medalist candidate for 2026 and beyond.

[Mister Obvious]

Bleh, none of these people are on the level of Yuzuru, it's gonna be so hard to come close to him...



He's the total package. He has everything. Just everything.

Impossible talent, impossible beauty, impossible charisma. Mind boggling.

It's too bad he didn't win a triple streak and curbstomp everyone in the 2022 Olympics.

Nobody's gonna come close again for a long time.

Sigh.

It's like this guy said...

Show me ONE skater who has the guts to attempt a sequence of "double cross rolls - back counter turn - triple Axel - twizzle - illusion sit spin - step sequence - combo spin" in a short program KNOWING that if you mess up that Axel, the sit spin is automatically gone too, because the entire rest of the program is already occupied by the step sequence and the final spin with no recovery space in between.

That means, he is 100% sure that he lands that Axel with enough speed to go into the sit spin and NOT let those 4 points slip. He is absolutely insane for this. This enormous risk alone deserves a 10.00 in transitions if successful. Let alone the ridiculous total of only 6 crossovers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usRntZb4404&lc=UgzmQ4rp9AGMlSojmal4AaABAg

Preach, brother. The shit ain't even right.

Apparently Yuruzu was injured during this time...

Yuzuru Hanyu: "After Pyeongchang, I already wanted to step away. But truthfully, I couldn't stop because I'd said in so many interviews that I'd land the 4A. It was my dream, and I was terrified of letting go of it – terrified of giving up."

See, this is why they have to be so young and retire early. Probably the hardest sport with the most wear on the body. It's absolutely ridiculous, but by far one of the most beautiful art forms in existence.

[Mister Obvious]

With an injured ankle, strong pain medication and an injection for pain six minutes before the warmup and "against" his doctors advice, he went out to skate. He's a legend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D35ANhKWsc4&lc=UgxXijIQzo3Dzh2E2UB4AaABAg&pp=0gcJCSMANpG00pGi

[Mister Obvious]

I think I can definitively say...

Yuzuru Hanyu will be the best figure skater of my lifetime, so I'm pretty damn lucky to have witnessed this.

[Mister Obvious]

I want to watch every skate he's ever done.

[Mister Obvious]

I would say I enjoy pairs skating more than I enjoy watching chicks skate by themselves.

Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev won 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals between 1972-1980.

I already checked them out earlier in the thread, wasn't really my cup of tea but I had to include an entry for the only pairs skaters with a triple gold streak.

It'd be unfair to leave them out.

No pairs have won even two in a row since then.

[Mister Obvious]

The Olympic gold medal record for pairs figure skating is held by Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China, who achieved a score of 239.88 at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. They also hold the record for the highest short program score in pairs, with 84.41 points, according to Guinness World Records. Their combined score of 239.88 also set a world record.

I feel like I've definitely seen this before, but it's never been posted.

Starting off a capella, that is different.

3:18 I don't even have any words for that one, I think the crowd cheering has to say it for me.

3:50 agh, my God man, these two making me feel something.

Off the friggen charts, holy crap.

[Mister Obvious]

Man...

I wish I'd been smoking that '70s good shit back in the day for whatever Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev apparently brought to the table to win gold 3 times in a row, like...

Dude.

Anybody ever doing that again in the next 50-100 years is way less likely than a singles winning a triple streak.

Maybe I should go look and see if I can find better videos of those two.

From what I recall, the video quality sucked.