I remember watching Fleming on TV during that Olympics and thinking "I want to do THAT!" (My old coach skated against her, but came in much further down in the rankings in those Games!) Skating wasn't in the cards for me until I turned 16, bought a car and could drive myself to rinks.
I was very disappointed when I met her in real life...maybe she was just having a bad day but she wasn't friendly towards the kids in my skating club at all. While I also liked Dorothy Hammill, Janet Lynn was my favorite.
Of the men, I think Hamilton is inspiring with all the off-ice obstacles he's overcome and his upbeat attitude. Plus, he kicked *** for years, so it was easy to be impressed by his skating.
Is it sacrilege to say that Sonja Henie never impressed me? I thought her skating lacked grace, but she was way before my time so it was probably graceful for that period. Amazing when you consider the skates she wore. I did like the spectacle parts of her movies, but Esther Williams' films were just as eye-boggling.