Peggy Fleming's Influence On American Sports

The Soviet Union didn’t achieve the same amount of success as the United States in the men’s event however they did have several noteworthy victories. The Soviet Union’s first win in the men’s event was at the 1972 Olympics when Sergey Chetverukhin won the silver medal (“Individual Men”). The 1972 Olympics was memorable for both the United States and the Soviet Union in the men’s event because for the Soviet Union it was their first win and for the United States, it was their first time to not place in twenty years. The Soviet Union found success again at the 1976 Olympics when they won the silver for the second time. The Soviet Union continued to have scattered success throughout the Olympics, winning the bronze in 1988 and the gold in 1992
During this time the United States women won seven golds, seven silvers, and four bronze medals (“Individual Women”). The United States Women include some of the most influential figure skaters in history, one of them being Peggy Fleming. Peggy Fleming’s unique skating style, combining both grace and power, helped to rebuild the United States Figure Skating program after the airplane crash of 1961 (“Peggy Fleming”) . The crash took the lives of the whole United States Figure Skating team, leaving the United States without it’s best skaters. Fleming carried on to win gold medal at the 1968 Olympics, this was an especially important win for the United States because it was not only the only gold medal won by the United States at this Olympic games, but it also signaled the resurgence of the American figure skating program after the crash (“Peggy Fleming”). Another figure skater who changed the game was Dorothy Hamil, not only did she win the gold for the United States at the 1976 Olympics, but she also was an inspiration for many girls in the United States leading to her distinctive bobbed haircut to be copied by many (Hines
Although the Soviet Union was unrivaled by the United States in the pairs event the United States had some success winning two silver medals and three bronze (“Mixed Pairs”). Unlike in the other events, the United States has never had any dominating figures in the pairs skating event due to their scattered success and the Soviet Union's immense domination. And although it seems that the United states have failed in the Pair’s event, very few countries have beaten the Soviet Union is this event at the