PEOPLE The Best of Olympic Figure Skating: Favorite Stars & Future Champions

By The Editors of PEOPLE

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, these figure skaters and other top competitors will show off their amazing jumps and spins-and perhaps join the ranks of America's medal winners from winters past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: People
• Release date: Jan 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781547841363

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Frozen in Time

1948-2018

Every four years the world’s finest skaters come together in a cold climate for a contest of strength and beauty that lasts just a matter of days. The memories, however, are forever

Calgary, Feb. 20, 1988

Brian Boitano leaps to victory over Canadian Brian Orser in the Battle of the Brians. He had to do the best performance of his life­—and he did, says Peggy Fleming.

Lake Placid, Feb. 13, 1980

Though new to the team, Scott Hamilton was tapped to carry the flag by fellow athletes inspired by his story of overcoming obstacles.

Lillehammer, Feb. 25, 1994

Oksana Baiul’s emotional celebration of her win over Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding provided a tearful coda to the high-tension Winter Games.

Sarajevo, Feb. 14, 1984

The passionate performance of ice-dancing legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean scored gold and changed the sport forever, says Scott Hamilton.

‘I wanted to please the crowd, not the judges’

—Surya Bonaly

Nagano, Feb. 20, 1998

Plagued by injury and frustrated that her acrobatic athleticism left judges cold, the French champion executed a spectacular but illegal backflip that earned enthusiastic applause but failed to land her a medal.

Sochi, Feb. 8, 2014

Ashley Wagner exuded cool confidence during her short program at Sochi—and didn’t hide her disgust when her score came up short.

‘I’m so happy to skate with Sergei, who I’m so in love with. When I don’t feel well, when I’m nervous, I focus on him. Our choreographer tells me, Forget about everyone. Skate for Sergei. ’

—Ekaterina Gordeeva on her late husband Sergei Grinkov

Lillehammer, Feb. 15, 1994

The married couple won their second gold medal for Russia in 1994. Grinkov, 27, died the following year.

Turin, Feb. 23, 2006

Two falls in the first minute of her free-skate program cost Sasha Cohen a gold medal, but she recovered to hang on to silver. I’m disappointed, but I’m proud of myself too, she said later. I’m tougher than I thought.

The White House, March 27, 1968

President Lyndon Johnson presented gold medalist Peggy Fleming with a magnolia from a tree outside the Oval Office and a bracelet.

Greenwich, Conn., March 22, 1976

I wasn’t prepared to walk down the street and have people stop and congratulate me, recalls Dorothy Hamill (at her hometown victory parade).

Salt Lake City, Feb. 21, 2002

Russia’s silver medalist Irina Slutskaya (left) and bronze winner Michelle Kwan flanked champion Sarah Hughes on the podium.

Albertville, Feb. 15, 1992

Expectations were low for Paul Wylie, and that made his triumphant skate to second place all the sweeter. "I don’t think anything will upset me for years,’’ Wylie told People.

‘My thought process was mind your own business. I wrote it on a little card when I got here, and I taped it up in my room: Worry about what my job is. And I accomplished that mission here’

—Evan Lysacek

Vancouver, Feb. 16, 2010

Wearing a custom Vera Wang outfit inspired by his performance music—Stravinsky’s Firebird—Lysacek ended his 2010 short program in tears of joy when his routine put him within striking distance of favorite Evgeni Plushenko.

Good as Gold

1948-2014

Spinners, leapers, lifters—and winners. Our tribute to every American figure skater to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics—and a few of our favorite top international contenders too

Victory Lap

Ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White win gold in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

1948, 1952

Dick Button

America’s First

Practicing before the 1948 Games in St. Moritz, Button was the first ever to perform a double axel jump in competition.

For generations of figure skaters, Button embodies a history that stretches from the frozen pond in