Top 20 Best Female Figure Skaters of the World

This blog is about the Top 20 Best Female Figure Skaters of the World Figure skating was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games. It is a sport performed on ice in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform with the skates. People eagerly watch Women’s figure skating events past 30 years. The power of the leg and knee is highly considered for this competitive sport. I have listed the powerful and best female skaters of all time according to their achievements. Who is your favorite?

List of 20 Best Female Figure Skaters of the World

1. Sonja Henie
2. Katarina Witt
3. Herma Szabo
4. Carol Heiss
5. Peggy Fleming
6. Barbara Ann Scott
7. Trixi Schuba
8. Yuna Kim
9. Kristi Yamaguchi
10. Madge Syers
11. Alina Zagitova
12. Tara Lipinski
13. Dorothy Hamill
14. Oksana Baiul
15. Lily Kronberger
16. Irina Slutskaya
17. Michelle Kwan
18. Evgenia Medvedeva
19. Midori Ito
20. Surya Bonaly

20 Best Female Figure Skaters of the World with Details

1. Sonja Henie

Representing Norway, Sonja Henie is three times in a row Olympic champion, was known as one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. But then her hunger for gold could be seen when she was non-stop ten times World Champion as well. She also won non-stop six European Championship and none could have been able to break this record. She is at the top of Best Female Figure Skaters in the world.

Sonja was lucky for her family background as she was the only daughter of a wealthy family who had a fur business and was flourishing. She started her skating journey inspired by her brother though she had won various other games. She left a lasting impression throughout her career and her technical skill and artistic impression were gracefully obtained in women’s figure skating. She was the most popular skater of her time. At the end of her skating career, she chose a film career and also was successful.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold Medals (1928 St. Moritz, 1932 Lake Placid, 1932 Lake Placid, 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen)

World Champion Gold Medals (1927 Oslo, 1928 London, 1929 Budapest, 1930 New York, 1931 Berlin, 1932 Montreal, 1933 Stockholm, 1934 Oslo, 1935 Vienna, 1936 Paris) Silver Medal (1926 Stockholm)

European Championship Gold Medals (1931 St. Moritz, 1932 Paris, 1933 London, 1934 Prague, 1935 St. Moritz, 1936 Berlin)

2. Katarina Witt

Representing East Germany Katarina Witt is a two times gold medal holder in the Olympic Games. She has been also a four-time World Champion winner and won two times Silver Medals. She won Gold Medals for six years in European Championships. She was born in East Germany to a father who was a farmer and a mother working as a physiotherapist. She started skating at a very young age of 5 and as she grew and serious she used to practice for a long time. She was known for her grace and skills. She is the only second skater to win the Olympics two times. But this success cost her many losses in her early games. In 1994, she published her autobiography. In 1994, she was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold Medal (1984 Sarajevo, 1988 Calgary)

World Championships Gold Medals (1984 Ottawa, 1985 Tokyo, 1987 Cincinnati, and 1988 Budapest). Silver Medals (1982 Copenhagen, 1986 Geneva)

European Championships Gold Medals (1983 Dortmund, 1984 Budapest, 1985 Gothenburg, 1986 Copenhagen, 1988 Prague). Silver Medal 1982 Lyon.

3. Herma Szabo

Herma Szabo won Gold during the Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics games and was famous as the first woman champion. She was emerging victorious and had a remarkable run of success when she won five consecutive World Figure Skating Championship.

Herma Szabo was the daughter of two times World Champions in pair skating Christa Von Szabo. She was born in Vienna (AUT) on 22 February 1902. As she had the blood of a champion it was common that she started her training at an early age. She is the only skater who has been to hold together world titles in pairs and singles.  In 1982 she was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She is one of the most decorated figure skaters of all time.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold Medal (1924 Chamonix).

World Championship Gold Medals (1926 Stockholm, 1925 Davos, 1924 Oslo, 1923 Vienna, 1922 Davos). Golds in Pairs (1927 Vienna, 1925 Vienna). Silver in (1927 Oslo) and Bronze in (1926 Berlin).

4. Carol Heiss

Figure Skater Carol Heiss 1956 Archive Photo of the Day | Women figure, Figure skating, Fitness motivation Carol won Olympic Games in 1960 Squaw Valley, representing the United States, and won silver in 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo. She also was one of the Ladies skaters to win the consecutive five World Championship.

Carol was born in New York City in 1940. Her family was amazed by her talent so they took her for skating practice. She made a public appearance in an ice show at age 6. Being the eldest daughter she was well aware of the financial situation. At the young age of 13, she entered World Championship and was placed fourth and after that, she was placed second in various major competitions.  But she was enthusiastic enough and she overcame her losses to win consecutive world champions. She was inducted into the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (1960 Squaw Valley) Silver (1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo)

World Championships (1960 Vancouver, 1959 Colorado Springs, 1958 Paris, 1957 Colorado Springs, 1956 Garmisch-Partenkirchen) Silver (1955 Vienna)

North American Championships (1959 Toronto, 1957 Rochester) Silver (1955 Regina, 1953 Cleveland)

5. Peggy Fleming 

Peggy Fleming is the Olympic gold medalist in 1968 at 19 years old. She was the only one to win a gold medal from Grenoble where she represented the United States. She won World Champion three times and was famous for her elegance and stylish performance. Her grace and beauty were even appreciated by the all young girls and skaters. She is at the 5th position of Best Female Figure Skaters in the world.

Peggy was born in 1948, July 7 in a middle-class family where finance was the problem. But as she started her skating journey at age 9 she managed to overcome this problem and eventually she won U.S. Women’s Championship five times. After she won the Olympics, she turned her career to the television industry. She is also a very strong woman and also has won against her breast cancer.  In 1974 she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, in 1976 Inducted in the USFSA Hall of Fame in the same year she was inducted into the World Figure skating Hall of Fame and in 1997 she was awarded by Olympic Committee Olympic Spirit.

Medals Record

Olympic Games GOLD (1968 Grenoble)

World Championships GOLD (1968 Geneva, 1967 Vienna, 1966 Davos). Bronze (1965 Colorado Springs)

North American Championships Gold (1967 Montreal) SILVER (1965 Rochester)

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6. Barbara Ann Scott

Representing Canada, Barbara Ann Scott was the Olympic Champion in 1948. As she won two World Championship as well as two European Championship, she was the newsmaker who won three major titles in the same year and she is the only Canadian to have won European Championship. She was the first woman to land a double Lutz jump and was famous as “Canada’s Sweetheart”.

Barbara was born in 1928 in Canada and her father was a Canadian Army Colonel. Her skating began as soon as she was 7 years old and her coach was Otto Gold and Sheldon Galbraith. She became the youngest skater as she passed the “gold figures test” at age ten. She won Canadian Figure Skating Championship for two years (1944-46). She was also on the cover story of Tie Magazine in 1948.  Canadian government appreciated her contributions and made her an officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 whereas a member of The Order of Ontario in 2008. She was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1948 and Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 1997.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (1948 St. Moritz)

World Championships (1948 Davos, 1947 Stockholm)

European Championships GOLD (1948 Prague, 1947 Davos)

North American Championships (1947 Ottawa, 1945 New York)

7. Trixi Schuba

Trixi Schuba is an Austrian skater and Olympic Champion in the year 1972. She has won World Championship two times and is a two-time European Champion as well. She was awarded the Gold Medal for Services to The Republic of Austria.

Trixi was born in 1951, April 15 in Vienna, and her parents had a wood business. She was mesmerized by the American skating competition on television. Then she started training, coached by Helmut Seibt and Leopard Linhart. She became the Austrian National Champion six times in a row. After the end of her skating career, she was a member of the Austrian Olympic Committee.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (1972 Sapporo)

World Championships Gold (1972 Calgary, 1971 Lyon) Silver (1970 Ljubljana, 1969 Colorado Springs)

European Championships GOLD (1972 Gothenburg, 1971 Zürich) Silver (1970 Leningrad), Bronze (1969 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 1968 Vasteras)

8. Yuna Kim

Yuna Kim represented South Korea in 2010 and won gold in Olympic Championship and won Silver in 2014. She is two times World Champion and the first figure skater to win Junior Grand Prix Final. She is the first female to have won various major international competitions. She is the one to mark 150-point in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Yuna Kim was born on 1990, September 5 in South Korea. She began her skating training at the early age of six and won her first National title in 2003. She is famous for her technical, beautiful grace, and lovely music combination in skating. Many famous skaters have appreciated spectacular jumps, Ice coverage and artistry, and spin. Kim was inducted into the Korean Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and was awarded the highest decoration, Cheongnyong (Blue Dragon) Medal in 2016.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (2010 Vancouver) Silver (2014 Sochi)

World Championships Gold (2009 Los Angeles, 2013 London) Silver (2010 Turin, 2011 Moscow) Bronze (2007 Tokyo, 2008 Gothenburg)

Four Continents Championships Gold (2009 Vancouver)

Grand Prix Final Gold (2006–07 St. Petersburg, 2007–08 Turin, 2009–10 Tokyo) SILVER (2008–09 Goyang )

World Junior Championships GOLD (2006 Ljubljana) SILVER (2005 Kitchener)

Junior Grand Prix Final GOLD (2005–2006 Ostrava) SILVER (2004–2005 Helsinki)

9. Kristi Yamaguchi

Kristi Yamaguchi is the first Asian-American Olympic Champion in 1992 who represented the United States and won World Champion two times. Kristi was born in 1971 in California. Her father was a dentist and her mother was a medical secretary. She started skating and ballet lessons as her therapy and became U.S. champion in 1992. She started professionally after 1992 and toured for many years.

Now she is busy with her foundation called, Always Dream Foundation for children. She was awarded the Inspiration Award and Sonja Henie Award in 2008. She is a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall Of Fame.

Medals Record    

Olympic Games Gold (1992 Albertville)

World Championships Gold (1991 Munich, 1992 Oakland)

World Junior Championships Gold (1988 Brisbane) Gold in Pairs (1988 Brisbane) Bronze in Pairs (1987 Kitchener)

10. Madge Syers

Madge Syers was an Olympic Winner in 1908 and she was representing the United Kingdom. She amazed the world when she became the first to enter and win Silver Medal in 1902 which was Open Singles. Then she participated in World Championship and won 2 times gold.

She was born in 1881, London. She was not only an amazing figure skater but also a proficient swimmer and equestrienne. She was the first to introduce skirts at mid-calf as the skirt was subject to dismiss the open championship. Due to her health condition, she retired. Then she wrote many books. She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of fame in 1981

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (1908 London) Bronze In Pairs (1908 London)

World Championships Gold (1906 Davos, 1907 Vienna) Silver (1902 London)

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11. Alina Zagitova

Alina is the first Russian to win gold in Olympics. She has also achieved gold in World Championship and European Championship. She has been performing remarkably.  Alina was born in 2002, to Leysan Zagitova and Ilnaz Zagitov , an ice hockey coach. She was trained soon after she was four years old with different coaches. She has been praised for her terrific performances. Having signature move the triple Lutz-triple loop, she landed triple jumps and her spins received level-four and won Olympic. She has also won various international medals.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (2018 Pyeongchang) Silver in Team (2018 Pyeongchang)

World Championships Gold (2019 Saitama)

European Championships Gold (2018 Moscow) Silver (2019 Minsk)

Grand Prix Final Gold (2017–18 Nagoya) Silver (2018–19 Vancouver)

World Junior Championships Gold (2017 Taipei)

Junior Grand Prix Final Gold (2016–17 Marseille)

European Youth Olympic Festival Gold (2017 Erzurum)

12. Tara Lipinski

Tara Lipinski was born in 1982 and representing the United States, she is the Olympic champion in 1998 and a World Champion in 1997. She was just six years old when she started ice skating after learning roller- skating at age of just three. She became the youngest to win the Olympics breaking the record of Sonja Henie. She is the first woman to complete her signature jump, triple-loop -triple loop combination. In 1998 she retired from skating. She was the youngest skater to have been inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

 Medals Record

Olympic Games Gold (1998 Nagano)

World Championships Gold (1997 Lausanne)

Grand Prix Final Gold (1996–1997 Hamilton, 1997–1998 Munich)

13. Dorothy Hamill 

Dorothy Hamill was the 1976 Olympic gold medalist who represented the United States. She was born in 1956, Chicago, U.S. In the same year 1976, she also won World Championship. She started her private coaching at the age of 14 with Carlo Fassi. After winning U.S. national Championship three times she won Olympics. Later she joined television. She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in (2000)

Medals Record

Winter Olympics GOLD 1976 Innsbruck

World Championships Gold (1976 Gothenburg) Silver (1974 Munich, 1975 Colorado)

14. Oksana Baiul

Oksana Baiul is a 1994 Olympic Champion in ladies singles including the 1993 world champion representing Ukraine. She was the first to win Olympic Gold from Ukraine in any sport. Born on November 16, 1977, Oksana was raised by her mother and her maternal grandparents as her father and mother had divorced when she was only 2 years old. She started her skating training as soon as she was 5. She had to be standing with all the hardships of personal life earlier as well as the country’s condition. She competed and claimed various medals during her professional life. She suffered from injuries and financial struggles too. But she overcame all the suffering and lived happy moments.

List of Medals Records

Olympic Games Gold (1994 Lillehammer)

World Championships Gold (1993 Prague)

European Championships Silver (1993 Helsinki, 1994 Copenhagen)

15. Lily Kronberger

Lily Kronberger represented Hungary and was the first athlete to win consecutive four times world Championship. She was born in 1890, in Budapest to a lumber merchant. She was the first world champion of Hungary. She died in 1974, at the age of 83. She was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997.

Medals Record

World Championships Gold ( 1911 Vienna, 1910 Davos, 1909 Budapest, 1908 Troppau) Bronze (1907 Vienna, 1906 Davos)

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16. Irina Slutskaya

Irina Slutskaya won two World Championships representing Russia and won a silver medal in Olympics. She dominated European Championship and her competitors after winning seven gold and the record has not been broken yet. She was born in 1979, and her grandmother encouraged her for skating at age 4.  She was the first woman to land a triple lutz-triple loop combination. She faced a lot of health issues but her comeback was remarkable.

Medals Record

Olympic Games Silver (2002 Salt Lake City) Bronze 2006 Turin

World Championships Gold (2002 Nagano, 2005 Moscow) Silver (1998 Minneapolis 2000 Nice, 2001 Vancouver) Bronze 1996 Edmonton

European Championships Gold (1996 Sofia, 1997 Paris, 2000 Vienna, 2001 Bratislava, 2003 Malmö, 2005 Turin, 2006 Lyon) Silver (1998 Milano, 2002 Lausanne

Grand Prix Final Gold (1999–2000 Lyon, 2000–01 Tokyo, 2001–02 Kitchener, 2004–05 Beijing)

Silver (1995–96 Paris, 2002–03 Saint Petersburg, 2005–06 Tokyo) Bronze (1996–97 Hamilton, 1998–99 Saint Petersburg)

World Junior Championships Gold (1995 Budapest, 1994 Colorado Springs)

17. Michelle Kwan

Michelle Kwan was born in 1980 represented the United States and won Silver and Bronze in the Olympic Games and is a five-time world champion in figure skating. Inspired by a game she started playing skate and at age 6, won her first competition. Her ability and talent were appreciated by everyone and is famous as the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Her grace was appreciated by many sports analysts.

She has been awarded by History makers Awards, Teen Choice Award, and many more. She was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame. In 2012 and also inducted the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in the same year.

Medals record

Olympic Games Silver (1998 Nagano) Bronze (2002 Salt Lake City)

World Championships Gold (1996 Edmonton, 1998 Minneapolis, 2000 Nice, 2001 Vancouver, 2003 Washington, D.C) Silver (1997 Lausanne, 1999 Helsinki)

18. Evgenia Medvedeva  

Representing Russia, Evgenia is the two Silver medal holders in Olympic Games, one for singles and 2nd for Team. She is also two times Gold Medal holder of the World Championship. Born in 1999, her father is an American businessman.  She is awarded by “Honored Master Sports of Russia in 2016 and was nominated for sportswoman of the year in 2017. She has now quit skating.

Medals record 

Olympic Games Silver in Single (2018 Pyeongchang) Silver in Team (2018 Pyeongchang )

World Championships Gold 2016 Boston, 2017 Helsinki Singles) Bronze 2019 Saitama

European Championships Gold (2016 Bratislava, 2017 Ostrava) Silver (2018 Moscow)

Grand Prix Final Gold (2015–16 Barcelona, 2016–17 Marseille)

World Team Trophy Silver 2017 Tokyo

World Junior Championships Gold (2015 Tallinn) Bronze (2014 Sofia)

Junior Grand Prix Final Gold 2014–15 Barcelona) Bronze 2013–14 Fukuoka

19. Midori Ito 

Midori Ito was born in 1969 and represented Japan winning the World Championship in 1989. In 1981, she was the first woman to land a triple-triple jump combination, in 1983 double loop-triple loop combination, in 1983, five different triple jumps, triple Axel in competition in 1988, triple Axel in the Olympics in 1992. She was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2003.

Medals Record

Winter Olympics Silver 1992 Albertville

World Championships Gold 1989 Paris) Silver 1990 Halifax

World Junior Championships Bronze 1984 Sapporo

20. Surya Bonaly 

Surya Bonaly was born in 1973 representing France, she won Silver three times in World Championship. She is a five-time European Champion. She is the only woman to land a backflip on one blade. She was awarded Commander of the Legion Honor: Knight in 2019. She is at 20th of the Best Female Figure Skaters in the world.

Medals record

World Championships Silver (1986 Paris, 1993 Prague, 1994 Chiba, 1995 Birmingham)

European Championships Gold (1991 Sofia, 1992 Lausanne, 1993 Helsinki, 1994 Copenhagen, 1995 Dortmund) Silver (1996 Sofia)

World Junior Championships Gold (1991 Budapest,) Silver (1990 Colorado) Bronze (1989 Sarajevo)

These  20 Best Female Figure Skaters of the World from different places of the world inspire every woman living in the corner of the world. They have delivered the message that even with all the problems women are so much powerful. Not only scoring matters but also evolving through mistakes is also the grace of a woman. All these women’s images will be remembered as respectful remains their achievements for all the era.

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