This year, U.S. Figure Skating is celebrating its centennial anniversary as it recognizes those members, clubs and fans who have given so much to U.S. Figure Skating over the past 100 years. This page honors the top athletes of the 1990s whose competitive achievements defined the decade. Learn more about the athletes from the last 100 years below, and check out the Centennial Celebration section of our website for more content.
20s | 30s | 40s | 50s | 60s | 70s | 80s | 2000s | 10s
The Nineties – Kwan begins her illustrious career
Jill Trenary
Trenary enjoyed her best season in 1990, winning her third U.S. gold medal and the World title. She also collected the World bronze medal in 1989 and held the U.S. title in 1987 and 1989. Trenary represented the U.S. at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, where she finished fourth.
Olympian – 1988
World champion – 1990
World bronze medalist – 1989
U.S. champion – 1987, ’89, ’90
Kristi Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi was the first skater in decades to find success in both singles and pairs. In the late 1980s, she primarily skated pairs with partner Rudy Galindo, and the duo won the U.S. title in 1989 and 1990. She is also the only American to win two World Junior titles in the same year (ladies and pairs). Yamaguchi eventually transitioned to ladies full time and had her best season in 1992, winning U.S., World and Olympic titles. She also won the World title in 1991 when she lead the only U.S. ladies World podium sweep with Tonya Harding (silver) and Nancy Kerrigan (bronze).
Olympic champion – 1992
Olympian – 1992
World champion (ladies) – 1991, ’92
World Junior champion (ladies) – 1988
World Junior champion (pairs with Galindo) – 1988
World Junior bronze medalist (pairs with Galindo) – 1987
U.S. ladies champion – 1992
U.S. pairs champion (with Galindo) – 1989, ’90
Nancy Kerrigan
Kerrigan was regarded as one of the best skaters in the world in the early 1990s. Over the course of four years, she collected two World medals, two Olympic medals and one U.S. title. Kerrigan was attacked in the lead up to the 1994 U.S. Championships, but recovered in time for the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, where she earned the silver medal.
Olympic silver medalist – 1994
Olympic bronze medalist – 1992
Olympian – 1992, ’94
World silver medalist – 1992
World bronze medalist – 1991
U.S. champion - 1993
Michelle Kwan
Kwan is the most decorated American figure skater of all time. She holds the record for most U.S. ladies titles (nine, tied with Maribel Vinson Owen), most World titles (five, tied with Carol Heiss and Dick Button) and most World medals. Among her many awards, Kwan became the first figure skater since Dick Button in 1949 to receive the James E. Sullivan Award, given to America’s best amateur athlete. She is a two-time Olympic medalist.
Olympic silver medalist – 1998
Olympic bronze medalist – 2002
Olympian – 1998, 2002
World champion – 1996, ’98, 2000, ’01, ’03
World silver medalist – 1997, ’99, 2002
World bronze medalist – 2004
World Junior champion – 1994
Grand Prix Final silver medalist – 1996, ’99, 2000, ’01
U.S. champion – 1996, ’98, ’99, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05
Tara Lipinski
Lipinski burst onto the scene in the late 1990s and was the kid phenomenon in the figure skating world. At just 14 years old, Lipinski won the Grand Prix Final (the first American to do so), and became the youngest skater to win the U.S. title (a record broken by Alysa Liu in 2019) and the youngest World champion in 1997. The next year, she went on to win Olympic gold in Nagano, Japan, becoming the youngest to ever complete the feat.
Olympic champion – 1998
Olympian – 1998
World champion – 1997
Grand Prix Final champion – 1997, ’98
U.S. champion – 1997
Todd Eldredge
With six U.S. titles over a 12-year period, Eldredge enjoyed a successful career that spanned the full decade. The two-time Olympian won the coveted World title in 1996, adding to his collection six World medals. His two World bronze medals were won 10 years apart (1991, 2001).
Olympian – 1992, ‘98, 2002
World champion – 1996
World silver medalist – 1995, ’97, ’98
World bronze medalist – 1991, 2001
World Junior champion – 1988
World Junior silver medalist – 1987
Grand Prix Final silver medalist – 1997
Grand Prix Final bronze medalist – 1998
U.S. champion – 1990, ’91, ’95, ’97, ’98, 2002
Paul Wylie
Wylie came up through the U.S. ranks in the 1980s, winning the World Junior title in 1981. He represented the United States at the Olympic Winter Games in 1988 and 1992. Though he never won a World medal, the five-time U.S. medalist put previous disappointing results behind him and rose up with two excellent performances to earn the silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville, France. His skating accomplishments were made even more remarkable considering he was attending Harvard at the same time.
Olympic silver medalist – 1992
Olympian – 1988, ’92
World Junior champion – 1981
Jenni Meno and Todd Sand
Meno and Sand won three U.S. pairs titles and three World medals from 1994 to 1998. At the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, Sand proposed to Meno just hours before the short program. The pair are two-time Olympians. Sand also won World bronze and the 1991 U.S. pairs title with former partner Natasha Kuchiki. Meno and Sand skated at the 1992 Olympics with different partners.
Olympians – 1994, ’98
World silver medalists – 1998
World bronze medalists – 1995, ’96
U.S. champions – 1994, ’95, ’96
Kyoko Ina
Ina claimed five U.S. titles with two different partners — Jason Dungjen and John Zimmerman. With Zimmerman, she also collected a World bronze medal in 2002. She is a three-time Olympian
Olympian – 1994 (with Dungjen), 1998 (with Dungjen), 2002 (with Zimmerman)
World bronze medalist (with Zimmerman) – 2002
U.S. champion (with Dungjen) – 1997, ’98
U.S. champion (with Zimmerman) – 2000, ’01, ’02
Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow
Punsalan and Swallow carried on the strong tradition of U.S. ice dance, winning five U.S. titles in the 1990s. Married in 1993, they went on to become two-time Olympians.
Olympians – 1994, ’98
U.S. champions – 1991, ’94, ’96, ’97, ’98
Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev
Lang and Tchernyshev followed Punsalan and Swallow by winning five consecutive U.S. titles of their own from 1999 to 2003. They also were two-time Four Continents champions and 2002 Olympians. Lang was the first Native American athlete to participate in the Winter Olympics.
Olympians – 2002
Four Continents champions – 2000, ’02
U.S. champions – 1999, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03
Haydenettes
The Haydenettes won their first of a whopping 28 U.S. titles (to date) in 1988. In the 1990s, the team collected seven of the 10 possible U.S. titles. The team based out of the Boston area has won five World bronze medals and went undefeated at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in the 2010s.
World bronze medalists – 2010, ’11, ’12, ’13, ‘16
U.S. champions – 1988, ’89, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’96, ’97, ’98, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’07, ’08, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15, ’16, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20
Other U.S. World medalists in the 1990s
Ladies
Holly Cook – 1990, bronze
*Tonya Harding – 1991, silver
Nicole Bobek – 1995, bronze
Men
Christopher Bowman – 1990, bronze
Rudy Galindo – 1996, bronze
Michael Weiss – 1999, bronze
Pairs
Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand – 1991, bronze
Other Four Continents medalists in the 1990s
Ladies
Amber Corwin – 1999, silver
Angela Nikodinov – 1999, bronze
Pairs
Danielle Hartsell and Steve Hartsell – 1999, bronze
Other U.S. champions in the 1990s
Ladies
*Tonya Harding – 1991
Nicole Bobek – 1995
Ladies Figures
Kelly Ann Szmurlo – 1992, ’93
Melanie Dupon – 1994, ’97
Lisa Bryson – 1995
Cassy Papajohn – 1996, ’98
Lisa Frenzel Swain – 1999
Men
Christopher Bowman – 1992
Scott Davis – 1993, ’94
Rudy Galindo – 1996
Michael Weiss – 1999
Men’s Figures
Craig Heath – 1991
Brian Schmidt – 1992
Gig Siruno – 1993, ’94
John Baldwin – 1995
Everett Weiss – 1996, ’97
Pairs
Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand – 1991
Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval – 1992, ’93
Danielle Hartsell and Steve Hartsell – 1999
Ice Dance
Susan Wynne and Joseph Druar – 1990
April Sargent-Thomas and Russ Witherby – 1992
Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur – 1993, ’95
*Tonya Harding was banned from U.S. Figure Skating on June 30, 1994.
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