Sonja Henie -- 1936
Yes, we're starting so early that we've got what appears to be a watercolor! This is figure-skating SUPER STAR Sonja Henie, who also wound up in a variety of Hollywood movies, she was so popular before WWII (hold that thought). Informative Caption tells me that she's STILL the record holder for the most Olympic and world titles. And her Wiki is very informative -- for example, now I know that this particular gold medal was super controversial because Sonja threw a fit about where she was assigned to skate and got herself placed last in the order. She also seems like she was at least a teeny bit Nazi, a fact about her that was NOT covered in any of my girlhood books about figure-skating! Make better choices, Sonja.
Freda Whitaker and Phil Taylor - 1936
This is not technically AT the Olympics, but rather "world-renowned New York figure skaters Freda Whitaker and Phil Taylor show[ing] some amazing acrobatics as they prepare for the next Winter Olympics." (A) I appreciate everyone's cold weather wear; (b) neither of them have a Wiki, but from my Googling, they might actually be British and I believe his daughter almost beat Nearly Nazi Sonja Henie this year in the ladies competition. Additionally, neither of them made the Olympics, but he seems to have been a stunt skater who did a lot of VERY INSANE tricks like skating on stilts.
Dick Button -- 1948
Speaking of great sweaters and also famous skaters who are NOT Nazis, yes, this is one "Richard Button of Englewood, N.J., who will represent the United States in the men's figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics at St. Moritz, Switzerland." Spoiler: He won, and still holds the record as the youngest man to win Olympic gold in figure-skating. You may only remember Dick Button for being irritated when people's spins wander, but the man has CRED. From his Wiki: " He is also the only non-European man to have become European champion. Button is credited as having been the first skater to successfully land the double Axel jump in competition in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind – a triple loop – in 1952. He also invented the flying camel spin, which was originally known as the "Button camel." NO WONDER he gets mad when people's camel spins suck. HE INVENTED THEM. Fun fact: He and his mother also once got caught in a Communist uprising in Prague and had to be extracted by the Army. He's also a lawyer. Long live Dick Button!
Dick Button - 1948
And he did it all in a suit! (He also defended his gold medal in 1952, and was the only man to win two golds in a row until Yuzuru Hanyu did it in 2018.)
Barbara Ann Scott - 1948
Let's turn once again to Informative Caption: "Barbara Ann Scott of Canada competed in the Women's Figure Olympic Skating event, during the Winter Olympic Games, in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Scott won the gold medal in the event and is seen repeating some leaps for photographers." You know, in case they missed it. (a) I sort of wish the skating was still done outside. It's better for Covid, too! (b) I also wish more people wore hats whilst skating. Anyway, Barbara Ann's Wiki tells me that "she is the only Canadian to have won the Olympic ladies' singles gold medal, the first North American to have won three major titles in one year and the only Canadian to have won the European Championship (1947–48). During her forties she was rated among the top equestrians in North America." Good for you, Barbara Ann!
U.S. Olympic Figure Skating - 1948
This is the entire US Figure Skating Team for 1948. Informative Caption has the order of these folks totally wrong, although that is Dick Button in the middle as their superstar. They gave me: "James Grogan, Robert Swenning, Eileen Seigh, Richard Button, Gretchen Merrill, James Lettingarver, Karol Kennedy, Peter Kennedy. Members of the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating teams glide over the ice in preparation for competition in the Winter Olympics, St. Moritz, Switzerland. " Also model some VERY cute outfits. I regret to inform you that none of these people had any scandal in their Wikipedias, but Karol and Peter are brother and sister, NOT MARRIED, and other than Dick were definitely the most successful skaters on this team. (They're not Kennedy Kennedys.)
Oleg Protopopov and Ludmilla Belousova - 1960
Let's zip forward in time to visit with Russian figure skaters Oleg Protopopov and Ludmilla Belousova, as they "practice before the start of the VIII Winter Olympic Games Pairs Figure Skating competition in Squaw Valley." Shoutout to the groovy be-sunglassed Californian gawkers in the background, but also Oleg and Ludmilla look chic in black. They're married and defected to Switzerland in the 70s. They invented three different death spirals! (Including presumably this one.) They skated exhibitions FOREVER, like until she was 80 YEARS OLD. They're both still alive! I need this novel!
Peggy Fleming and Tim Wood -- 1968
Look at these two cuties! This looks like a very fun episode of Star Trek. You probably are familiar with Peggy Fleming -- American skating sweetheart, superstar, and babe -- but Tim Wood was a legit skater and won the silver in Grenoble. Wiki also informs me that, as of 2015, he was being sued by a LOT of people, so I hope that worked out for him.
Peggy Fleming -- 1968
Here's Peggy doing her compulsory figures, which I sort of still wish they did and I'm sure Dick Button agrees.
Gabriele Seyfert of East Germany (silver), Peggy Fleming (gold) and Hana Maskova of Czechoslovakia (bronze)-- 1968
This is very interesting, from Peggy's Wikipedia: "Peggy's mother played a memorable role in her daughter's Grenoble Olympic medal, as she chose a color for the skating costume, chartreuse, named after the liqueur of that color produced by neighboring Carthusians in their founding monastery, which also gives the name "chartreuse" to the region, thereby perhaps inspiring local French audience support for Peggy's virtually flawless performance. Her award in Grenoble was singularly important for the American athletes and the nation as a whole, for this was the only gold medal that the U.S. Olympic team won in the 1968 Winter Olympics. It signaled a return to American dominance in the sport of women's figure skating following the unprecedented tragedy of the 1961 Sabena plane crash." I was only vaguely familiar with that crash and it's a truly heartbreaking story; the entire team was killed, along with coaches (including a young Peggy's), family members, the crew, everyone. Interestingly, apparently this crash also (by necessity) opened the door for American skaters being coached by non-Americans. Let's pivot to Gabriele! She and Peggy were apparently, per Wiki, "longtime rivals" but Gabriele never beat her. Also: "She was a Stasi informer under the codename 'Perle.'" Wait. WHAT. And Hana Maskova was NOT an informant for anyone, but sadly died in a car crash in 1972. This slide is....kind of a bummer, I'm sorry.
Janet Lynn -- 1972
Moving on, Janet looks VERY reasonable and perky here. She took the bronze, but I learned this from her Wiki: "The contrast between Lynn and Trixi Schuba was one of the reasons why the International Skating Union devalued the weight of compulsory figures in competition by introducing the short program. Since compulsory figures were rarely televised and were not well understood by the general public, television audiences were confused and angry when skaters such as Lynn, who excelled in the free skate, consistently lost competitions to skaters such as Schuba, who were not as strong in the free skate."
Dorothy Hamill -- 1976
To the youngs and even the only sort of youngs reading this: I CANNOT EXPRESS TO YOU HOW INFLUENTIAL THIS HAIRCUT WAS. (I wasn't even a year old when this happened, FWIW, but my mother DID eventually get me this haircut.)
Dianne De Leeuw, Netherland (Silver Medal); Dorothy Hamill, USA (Gold Medal) and Christine Errath, East Germany -- 1976
Here's a better look at it. Dorothy DID look really cute in that hair! As far as the other two ladies, neither one of them have anything insane on their Wikipedia and both look very reasonable and 1976-y here.
Scott Hamilton -1980
Did you know that Scott Hamilton was also the inspiration for Karate Kid? (Not really. But he does look like he's about to do a crane kick here.) This was before Scott Hamilton really became SCOTT HAMILTON; he came in 5th at this Olympics. Wiki tells me that "his breakthrough performance was in the 1981 U.S. Championships. He performed flawlessly and the audience began a standing ovation several seconds before the end of the performance. He never lost an amateur competition again."
Scott Hamilton - 1984
Welcome to the portion of this slideshow where I begin have actual memories of the events therein. This costume is VERY American.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean -- 1984
I cannot add to Heather's thoughts on this.
Katarina Witt -- 1984
I was nine during these Olympics and let me tell you: A nine-year old will respond to these costumes!
Katarina Witt - 1984
This one is burned on my brain! It's so pretty and fancy! She's wearing a tiara! I might have had this outfit for my Barbie! So glamourous!
Ekaterina Gordeeva, Sergei Grinkov -- 1988
Speaking of glamorous! (Sorry for downloading a not entirely great photo of your face, Ekaterina.) As you probably know, because it's a very famous story, they were in love and got married and had a baby and then he tragically and suddenly died. And then she married Ilia Kulik and THEN she married David Pelletier - both of whom will appear in this slideshow later. Listen, she loves a skater, it's fine. They're who she's meeting! She understands them! I just want her to be happy.
Debi Thomas - 1988
I mostly just included this because I'm obsessed with Debi's sweater. It's so cute. (I was a HUGE Debi Thomas fan. To the point where when she skated her long program during these Olympics, I actually had to leave the room, I was so stressed.)
Debi Thomas -- 1988
I really love this costume. Informative Caption actually encapsulated this situation fairly well: "The two clear favourites for the gold medal were Thomas and East Germany's Katarina Witt. Both skated their long programs to the music of Bizet's opera Carmen, the media consequently dubbing the showdown 'The Battle of the Carmens'. Thomas was leading going into the final free program but performed disappointingly to finish third, while Witt took the gold. In 1986 Thomas had been the first female skater to win a US National title and World Championship while attending college full time since Tenley Albright in the 1950s. Her bronze medal in Calgary meant she was the first African-American athlete in history to win a Winter Olympic medal." Tragically, although Debi went on to medical school, she has suffered from what seems like some psychological issues in recent years, judging from this WaPo piece in 2016. I haven't seen an update on her situation since, but I sincerely hope she is well.
Katarina Witt -- 1988
Katarina did nail this "Carmen," although I bet she wants a do-over on her makeup a bit. She is on record as saying that Debi Thomas was the only person who could beat her, and I think that's true. She very nearly did. Can you imagine having the top two skaters in the world skating to the exact same music now? It would be even more of a thing.
Brian Boitano -- 1988
I remember this routine SO clearly. It was EXCEPTIONALLY good. His Wiki says, "With his win, he became the first Olympic champion to land the full complement of six types of triple jumps. Boitano won the gold medal, wearing skates with American flag appliqués that are now part of the collections of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution." That is neat! The 1988 Olympics were quite fun, because the ladies had the Battle of the Carmens, and the men had the Battle of the Brians, namely Boitano here, and his arch-rival...
Brian Orser --1988
Orser. YES, they were also both doing some military-themed routines; Boitano's was about Napoleon. I think Orser's was just more...generic. Anyway, Orser is now a VERY good coach. Also, apparently, per his Wiki, "Orser starred in the 1990 German skating dance film Carmen on Ice, alongside his archrival Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt. The film told the story of Carmen wordlessly through ice skating; Orser played the part of Escamillo." I might need a movie about that movie.
U.S. Olympic Skating Team -- 1992
Here's the entire U.S. Olympic Skating Team, in a shot taken "before the closing ceremonies for the 1992 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Orlando, Florida." ALLEGEDLY, although we know Informative Caption is not totally reliable, we've got "From left, seated: Natasha Kuchiki, Jenni Meno, Calla Urbanski, Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding, April Sargent -Thomas, Rachel Mayer. Standing from left: Todd Sand, Scott Wendland, Rockey Marval, Christopher Bowman, Paul Wylie, Todd Eldredge, Russ Witherby, Peter Breen." (I do think that is right.) Because I know you are wondering, this is two years before Tonya and Nancy (seated next to each other for maximum drama in hindsight!) had their contretemps. The timeline is weird here because this is the era when we went from having the Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year to them being staggered. So we had Winter Olympics in 1992 AND 1994. The Tonya/Nancy situation unfurled before the 1994 Olympics. (Also important to the story: The retirement of my queen Kristi Yamaguchi after 1992 may have brought the Nancy/Tonya rivalry to a competitive head. In 1991 the three of them swept Worlds and were often really battling it out for the top slot).
Midori Ito, Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan - 1992
This was a VERY strong field of skaters.
Kristi Yamaguchi -- 1992
I love this costume on Kristi Yamaguchi. It is so iconic to me.
Midori Ito -- 1992
Major embroidery was HOT for figure skating costumes in the early 90s, between Kristi and Midori. In 1988, "she became the first woman to land seven triple jumps in an Olympic free skating competition," per her Wiki, and she's also "the first woman to land a triple-triple jump combination and a triple Axel in competition." She ALSO famously once jumped (accidentally) into the camera pit, an event I saw happen live (or when it aired, anyway). She just like hopped right back out! Amazing.
Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur -- 1992
We are now entering the portion of this post where I am just showing you outfits that I found entertaining. Here, we've got Canadian pairs team Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur, and these outfits are like.....PEAK 1992. They're nearly made of puffy-paint.
Rocky Marval, Calla Urbanski -- 1992
And I just had to include this shot because NO ONE looks happy here, in a way that is truly art. They did, in fact, super whiff it and finished tenth. And you can see that on their faces. Wiki claims "[b]oth developed chest colds at the event and waited a day for medication because the approved type had initially run out." Rocky definitely looks like a person who cannot breathe through his nose here.
Oksana Baiul, Nancy Kerrigan, Chen Lu -- 1994
If 1992 was about embroidery, 1994 was about sequins -- and, of course, Oksana's iconic pink marabou feathers. They finished 1-2-3, and they're waiting to see if that will hold here. Chen Lu won China's first figure-skating medal! Wiki notes that she had 7 triples in this long program, but "these successes were somewhat overshadowed by the Kerrigan/Harding controversy surrounding the Olympics and by the meteoric rise of another young skater, Oksana Baiul." Yeah, no kidding. Y'all, skating in the 90s was DRAMATIC. This was SEVEN WEEKS after Kerrigan was assaulted and honestly she BARELY lost the gold. (This was also when scoring was.....often slightly questionable. Something we will get to very soon. Which I do not say to disrespect Oksana, who was amazing. But she won thanks to like one judge.)
Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinko -- 1994
Ah, we are reunited with Gordeeva and Grinkov, who took the gold here and somewhat look like they're dancing in the vintage Valentino Julia Roberts wore when she won her Oscar.
Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, Chen Lu --1998
Chen Lu came back and defended her bronze! In sensible long sleeves. I like Tara Lipinski a lot, but I am a MICHELLE KWAN STAN and so one this hurts me a bit. I will say that I love how understated Michelle's look is here. (Also, I just took a break from proofreading this post and looked at Instagram and Michelle Kwan just had a baby! Mazel tov to her!)
Surya Bonaly -- 1998
Let me send a shout-out to France's Surya Bonaly, who did her famous one-blade backflip at this Olympics. Her Wiki is really interesting (and her first coach is a lunatic. They called him LITTLE NAPOLEON. It is not a compliment.) Did you know that she often wore a catsuit to skate in because she loved Flo-Jo? And her look in the previous Olympics -- I couldn't get a pic of this for some irritating reason -- was designed by Lacroix. Lacroix, darling! She also gave an interesting interview to The Root in 2014 about her experiences as a skater, and I wish she would write an autobiography.
Pasha Grishuk and Yevgeny Platov of Russia -- 1998
This whole look is giving me anxiety. (But they won the gold, so it worked!)
Elvis Stojko, Ilia Kulik, Philippe Candeloro -- 1998
These are three hideous outfits! The late 90s, man. What were we thinking?! Per Wiki, Elvis "Stojko entered the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan as the heavy favorite and was expected to become the first Canadian man to win an Olympic gold medal. He did not disclose to the media that he had suffered a groin injury and was also recovering from a flu that had struck many other athletes during the Games. He was unable to take painkillers due to the possibility of failing his drug test. He later stated in an interview that he was already feeling stiff and sore during the warm-up prior to the long program, and therefore downgraded his planned quadruple toe loop to a triple, likely costing him a chance at gold." All I can say to that is OUCH. Meanwhile, Ilia's shirt is INSANE but I love him for his role in Center Stage, and I am just going to guess that Philippe is doing some kind of Beauty and the Beast situation, based solely on his costume...
Philippe Candeloro of France - 1998
No, it was D'Artagnan. Well, I was....close? Not really. Anyway, fun fact: He has a rose named after him.
Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France -- 2002
This does not look right. He's like "WAIT WHAT am I supposed to be doing with THIS hand?!" Anyway, neither of them have anything shocking on their Wikipedia and he has amazing hair. (Both of their Wikis interestingly omit the fact that ALLEGEDLY they were a team that was involved in the big scoring scandal in the following Olympics, which we will get to in good time.)
Michelle Kwan -- 2002
Classic!
Michelle Kwan -- 2002
Also classic!
Sarah Hughes -- 2002
Extremely classic! Sarah Hughes nailed this skate; I love Michelle, but I remember being very excited for Sarah!
Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, Alexei Yagudin also of Russia, and bronze medalist Timothy Goebel of the United States -- 2002
I forgot about that cute Timothy Goebel, although he set a lot of records for quads. I hope he is well! (I'll never forget Plushenko or Yagudin.) (Also, Google tells me that Timothy is working...for Google. And married his boyfriend in 2017! Mazel tov!)
Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse of Germany - 2002
I share this only because I find her ensemble distressing and like a very aggressive bodysuit that is committing grievous crimes to her corporeal form. Anyway, a few months after this, he got hit by a truck! (He was okay.)
Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada and Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze -- 2002
"They look cranky," I thought. "OH RIGHT," I then thought. "They got robbed of the gold medal and now all the skating scoring is totally different!" Take it away, Informative Caption: "Figure skating pairs silver medal winners Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada, left, look towards Russians figure skating pairs and gold medal winners Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze during an awards ceremony at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Canadian outrage forced figure skating's ruling body to launch an inquiry into judging at the Olympics following Russia's controversial victory over the Canadians in the event." I cannot believe this will be twenty years ago this Olympics; it was a FULL-ASS SCANDALEO. Anton Sikharulidze looks like he knows it even here! (It wasn't his fault. But it WAS awkward for him.) That Wiki I linked to up there is A RIDE if you've forgotten all the details of this dirty business.
Irina Slutskaya -- 2006
Let us take a break to celebrate the dominance of Irina Slutskaya, who was really supposed to win the gold this year but instead had a bad free skate. (Mao Asada was already on everyone's asses in 2006 but she was too young to skate in this particular Olympics and everyone else was like "SHIT I BETTER GET IN THERE WHILE I CAN.")
Irina Slutskaya -- 2006
This is delightful.
Sasha Cohen -- 2006
Ugh, this was also the year that my beloved Sasha Cohen was (barely) in first place after the short program and really REALLY had a shot to win the whole thing except...
Sasha Cohen -- 2006
...as was her wont, she fell in her long program. I do love this costume. I still love you, Sasha!
We've all made this face.
Shizuka Arakawa -- 2006
Anyway, this all opened the door for Shizuka Arakawa to win Japan's first figure-skating gold! (She skated to Turandot, and I think this costume is lovely.)
Tatiana Totmianina, left, and Maxim Marinin -- 2006
I promised you ruffles, and ruffles here be. Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin are two names that are very enjoyable to say. Apparently, he once accidentally dropped her on her head and gave her a concussion and was so traumatized that he had to see a sports psychologist. (As you would be.)(She said she didn't even remember it happening.) (This wasn't in practice, it was DURING SKATE AMERICA. This sounds very upsetting!) Anyway, they won here and she's married to Alexei Yagudin, so it all worked out. (Skaters truly love to marry each other.)
Stephane Lambiel, Evgeni Plushenko, Jeffrey Buttle -- 2006
Informative Caption says that "Canada's bronze medalist Jeffrey Buttle, right, eyes Russia's Evgeni Plushenko's gold medal" but I think he's actually looking at Stephane Lambiel's very wild top. (Jeffrey is now a very successful choreographer.)
Johnny Weir --2006
I thought you might want to see Johnny.
Johnny Weir -- 2006
2006 was the final Olympics for which I pulled photos, because it felt like we had entered the modern era, more or less, but who doesn't like Johnny Weir looking like a subtle sea urchin?
Elena Grushina, left, and Ruslan Goncharov -- 2006
I am DISTRAUGHT that this was not an ABBA routine. It was a Peter Gabriel number, somehow. Anyway, they got married! Then they got divorced. The circle of life!
Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio -- 2006
This photo makes him look like he's accidentally picked her up along with a bunch of laundry, and also I am obsessed with them now. All the photos we have of them, she seems to HATE HIM.
Barbara Fusar Poli, left, and Maurizio Margaglio -- 2006
Here, in fact, Informative Caption says, "Italy's Barbara Fusa Poli stares down at her partner Maurizio Margaglio after he dropped her during their original dance program." Whoops. Also, Barbara, what are you wearing???
He knows it. Wiki says, "in the original dance, Fusar-Poli/Margaglio were performing a rotational lift with only seconds left in their program when Margaglio lost his balance, dropped Fusar-Poli, and fell to the ice himself. Following this conclusion to the program, Fusar-Poli stood glaring at her partner for approximately thirty seconds before the couple took their bows and left the ice. They dropped to seventh overall, but moved up to sixth place after a clean free dance, and told the media that the incident at the end of the original dance had reflected their anger at the mistake rather than at each other. Several years later, Fusar-Poli said that there were Swarovski crystals on the ice from the costumes of earlier competitors, but that the fall was a result of their own mistake and not the ice conditions." I feel like you ONLY bring up the crystals if you actually want to blame the crystals, especially several years later. However, this all happened when they were in first place, so....it would sting.
Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat -- 2006
2006 was REALLY a year for Peak Insane Ice Dancing Looks. This is unhinged. Fun fact: She's married to Jean Dujardin.
John and Sinead Kerr -- 2006
I love these lifts where it's like the person being carried is pretending to be a piece of luggage. (They're brother and sister, not married.) I really wanted this to somehow be a Braveheart routine, but it was...Last of the Mohicans? I do not recall that much tartan in that film, but go off!
Tanith Belbin and her partner Benjamin Agosto -- 2006
And, finally: Tanith Belbin had a lot of issues getting her American citizenship and it took a LITERAL act of Congress to get that sorted so she could skate for America here. Per Wiki, "the mother of fellow American ice dancer David Mitchell sent a letter to Senator Hillary Clinton, asking her to vote against it." That is VERY AWKWARD. (Mitchell and his partner ended up releasing a statement that was basically like, "we had nothing to do with that!!!") Anyway, it's good that HRC didn't pay David's Mom any mind, because Tanith and Ben were the first ice dancers to get a medal for the United States in 30 years when they won the silver. USA!