The Ladies

Ladies’

Michelle Kwan.  Sasha Cohen.  Tara Lipinski.  Nancy Kerrigan.  Kristi Yamaguchi.  Debi Thomas.  If American figure skating is known for anything (aside from our pair teams splitting up after a year and a half of skating together), it’s known for having strong ladies’ skaters.  The Vancouver Games in 2010 were the first Olympics since 1964 that there wasn’t a ladies’ skater on the medal podium—and in 1964, US Figure Skating was still recovering from a devastating plane crash in 1961 that killed the entire team to the World Championships that year.  In the last 20 years, American ladies’ skaters have won almost half (42%) of the Olympic medals.

                However, no American woman has medaled at Worlds since 2006.  That said, you can’t count the American women out of contention entirely.  They’ve placed as high as 4^th several times in that span, and the two women at Worlds this year, Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold, placed 5^th and 6^th, respectively.  They’re likely the best chances American women have for a medal, but it’ll be tough.  Reigning Olympic Champion Yuna Kim has staged her own comeback, and it’s been quite successful, as she won Worlds last month.  Italy’s Carolina Kostner seems to be skating quite well over the past few seasons; she was 3^rd in 2011, 1^st in 2012, and 2^nd this year.  Mao Asada, who has had a longtime rivalry with Kim, is also a force to be reckoned with.  Whichever three ladies make up the American team, they’ll have a tough battle to medal at the Olympics.