Profiles of Famous Figure Skaters

Maribel Vinson Owen and her two daughters, Laurence and "Little Maribel," were in the plane crash that killed the entire 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Team.

Who is your favorite Olympic figure skater?

Barbie Smith qualified for the World Figure Skating Championships in 1977. She was the silver medalist at the 1977 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships and was the 1975 U.S. National Junior Ladies figure skating champion. After her figure skating career, she seemed to disappear. Many people in the ice skating world wonder whatever happened to Barbie Smith?

For years, Werner Groebli, known as "Mr. Frick," delighted figure skating fans all over the world. He is considered one of the most famous ice skating show comedians in history.

The Broadmoor Skating Club, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is one of the most famous and prestigious figure skating clubs in the United States. Many of the Broadmoor Skating Club's members have won medals at National, Olympic, and World figure skating events.

Dick Button has been a figure skating commentator since 1962. He is figure skating's best known television analyst. He is also an Olympic ice skating champion.

Janet Champion has been involved in figure skating for most of her life as a child skating star with Ice Follies and then as a figure skating coach.

Janet Champion has trained skaters of all ages and levels. This photo gallery includes photos of some of the skaters Janet has trained. Also included are photos of family and skating friends.

Janet Champion was a professional ice show performer. She toured the United States with Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies. She skated with Ice Follies for nine years performing innovative skating and acrobatic moves on the ice and was considered the "Shirley Temple of the Skating World." This photo video montage highlights her skating.

Richard Ewell was the first African American to win a national title in both pair skating and single skating.

Mabel Fairbanks was an African American figure skater and ice skating coach. Her strength and determination paved the way for African Americans and other figure skaters from minority backgrounds to be part of the sport.

The Haydenettes are considered one of the best synchronized skating teams in the United States and in the world.

Lynn-Holly Johnson co-starred with Robby Benson in the 1978 movie Ice Castles. She played Lexie who was a talented young ice skater from Iowa who moved to Colorado to train for the Olympics.

2007 Eastern Ladies Champion Kylie Gleason is the daughter of figure skating coach and champion, Suna Murray, who competed in the Olympis for the U.S. in 1972. A dream would be for Kylie to follow in her mother's footsteps and also compete in the Olympics in figure skating.

John A.W. Nicks is one of the top figure skating coaches in the world. His most recent champion is Sasha Cohen.

Jim Sladky and Judy Schwomeyer, an outstanding American ice dance team, demonstrated ice dancing at the Grenoble Olympics in 1968. That demonstration resulted in ice dancing becoming an Olympic event. Jim shares the story of his skating career in this article.

There are certain African American figure skaters that should be remembered. This short article highlights some of those skaters.

This is a scrapbook that celebrates the life of the Italian skater and coach, Giuliano Grossi. Giuliano was a dear friend of mine. 1984 Olympic Champion and celebrity, Scott Hamilton, was coached by Giuliano Grossi when he was a young boy. Mr. Grossi was a figure skating star and a great skating coach. He is missed by many.

Midori Ito is considered by many as being the best figure skater ever to come from Japan. She won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics. She was the first woman to land a triple axel in a major international competition.

Don Jackson was the first Canadian to win the Men’s World Figure Skating Championship. He then became a star in Ice Follies.

Elvis Stojko was one of the best Canadian figure skaters of the 1990s. He won Worlds in 1997.