Graphic by YIKES,Inc. |
Anytime two or more skating fans get together, eventually the talk turns to which skaters are the most attractive. Many straight men have gone for busty Katarina Witt, or winsome Josée Chouinard, or spankable Nicole Bobek. Lots of straight women swoon for Kurt Browning, Ilia Kulik, or (especially in Japan) Philippe Candeloro.
But what about those of us who are not-so-straight? Whom do we adore? Is there a difference in tastes, according to the sexual preference of the fan? Yes, "best-looking skater" polls are passé, but here's one with a twist. Fans of all orientations (define gender or orientation as you will) are invited to help out Rainbow Ice with this thoroughly unscientific and completely anonymous poll!
In case you need your memories jogged, find below a more or less random list of some skaters, not meant to be limiting -- feel free to list anybody who's ever laced up a pair of skates.
Dick Button...Philippe Candeloro...Brian Orser...Emanuel Sandhu...John Zimmerman...Brian Boitano...Artur Dmitriev...Gwendal Peizerat...Alexei Urmanov...Elvis Stojko...Paul Martini...Peter Oppegard...Scott Hamilton...Kurt Browning...Victor Petrenko...Todd Eldredge...Michael Weiss...Trifun Zivanovic...Matt Savoie...Fedor Andreev...Rudy Galindo...Doug Mattis...Anton Sikharulidze...Evgeny Platov...Alexander Zhulin...Dan Hollander...Jered Guzman...Philip Dulebohn...Toller Cranston...Peter Tchernyshev...Alexei Yagudin...Evgeny Plyushenko...Jason Dungjen
Katarina Witt...Denise Biellmann...Oksana Baiul...Surya Bonaly...Yuka Sato...Lu Chen...Michelle Kwan...Nicole Bobek...Sasha Cohen...Naomi Nari Nam...Natalia Mishkutienok...Maya Usova...Oksana Kazakova...Marina Anissina...Pasha Grishuk...Angelika Krylova...Kyoko Ina...Irina Slutskaya...Lucinda Ruh...Tara Lipinski...Elena Sokolova...Maria Butyrskaya...Rosalynn Sumners...Tamara Moskvina...Kristi Yamaguchi...Debi Thomas...Nancy Kerrigan...Elena Berezhnaya...Amanda Magarian...Naomi Lang...Tiffany Scott...Josée Chouinard...Tiffany Chin...Susie Wynne...Peggy Fleming...Dorothy Hamill
Special thanks to Jennifer Lyon, author of "The Strong and the Sequined," for this Flavor of the Month idea.