THE DOCTOR IS IN!
I thought now would be a good time for another _SKATING HISTORY LESSON!
THIS IS A DEBI THOMAS POST!
Debi Thomas is an American HBIC who hails from Poughkeepsie, NY. She was coached by Alex McGowan from age 10 until her retirement from amateur skating.
Debi won both the 1986 U.S. Nationals and the 1986 World Championships, beating out great skaters like Jill Trenary, Caryn Kadavy, Katarina Witt, and Tiffany Chin. These victories earned her the ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year Award.
Oh yeah, and she won those titles while attending Stanford University, studying engineering full time.
AND to this day, she remains the only African-American to hold titles in U.S. ladies' singles figure skating.
In 1987, she suffered from injuries caused by Achilles tendinitis in both ankles, and still managed to capture the Silver Medal at Nationals and at Worlds.
She once again won the national title in 1988, and was a favorite for the gold at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Her rivalry with German skater was dubbed the "Battle of the Carmens," because both of them skated their free skates to Bizet's Carmen (obvious lol).
Her short program went well, earning strong compulsory figures, winning the short. She skated to an instrumental version of Dead or Alive's "Something in My House."
And, another reason why this HBIC is a personal favorite of mine, she was the FIRST lady in pants!
Apparantly, the old farts over at the ISU were so scandalized by Debi's BAMF-y unitard that it was after the 1988 Olympics that they stipulated that ladies "must wear a skirt" during competition. This rule was lifted at the Torino 2006 games, where, as we all know, HBIC Irina skated in a unitard.
Irina, just because I love her:
Unfortunately, Debi underperformed in the long program, placing 5th. She ended up winning the Bronze Medal (Witt winning gold, and Canadian Elizabeth Manley taking silver), becoming the first African-American to medal at the Winter Olympics until 2002. She went on to win the Bronze at the 1988 World Championships as well, and retired from amateur skating. She was 21 years old.
She won a few Professional Figure Skating World Championships, and was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. She was asked by the US Olympic committee to be the on-site celebrity representative at the 2002 Salt Lake City games, and she, along with Dorothy Hamill and other Winter Olympians, was selected by President Bush to be part of the U.S. Delegation for the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.
SO THAT WAS THAT, RIGHT? EVERYTHING ENDED FOR HER AFTER SKATING?
HELL NO!!
Debi graduated from Stanford University in 1991 with a degree in engineering, and then graduated from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1997, and also completed her residency in orthopedic surgery. In June 2005, Debi graduated from the Orthopedic Residency Program at Charles R. Drew University in L.A. In 2006 she passed Step I of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgeons' exam and completed her work at King-Drew Medical Center as a junior attending physician specialist. She is currently a practicing doctor in Terre Haute, Indiana.
SO THAT'S DOCTOR DEBI THOMAS TO YOU SLORES
More photos:
Videos:
If she skated clean, she DEF would've gotten the gold. I have no doubt.
Watching this really shows how the psychology of competing in the Olympics can really get to you...if only she had been able to pull this off in Calgary...
AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM DR. THOMAS:
source&source
THIS IS A DEBI THOMAS POST!
Debi Thomas is an American HBIC who hails from Poughkeepsie, NY. She was coached by Alex McGowan from age 10 until her retirement from amateur skating.
Debi won both the 1986 U.S. Nationals and the 1986 World Championships, beating out great skaters like Jill Trenary, Caryn Kadavy, Katarina Witt, and Tiffany Chin. These victories earned her the ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year Award.
Oh yeah, and she won those titles while attending Stanford University, studying engineering full time.
AND to this day, she remains the only African-American to hold titles in U.S. ladies' singles figure skating.
In 1987, she suffered from injuries caused by Achilles tendinitis in both ankles, and still managed to capture the Silver Medal at Nationals and at Worlds.
She once again won the national title in 1988, and was a favorite for the gold at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Her rivalry with German skater was dubbed the "Battle of the Carmens," because both of them skated their free skates to Bizet's Carmen (obvious lol).
Her short program went well, earning strong compulsory figures, winning the short. She skated to an instrumental version of Dead or Alive's "Something in My House."
And, another reason why this HBIC is a personal favorite of mine, she was the FIRST lady in pants!
Apparantly, the old farts over at the ISU were so scandalized by Debi's BAMF-y unitard that it was after the 1988 Olympics that they stipulated that ladies "must wear a skirt" during competition. This rule was lifted at the Torino 2006 games, where, as we all know, HBIC Irina skated in a unitard.
Irina, just because I love her:
Unfortunately, Debi underperformed in the long program, placing 5th. She ended up winning the Bronze Medal (Witt winning gold, and Canadian Elizabeth Manley taking silver), becoming the first African-American to medal at the Winter Olympics until 2002. She went on to win the Bronze at the 1988 World Championships as well, and retired from amateur skating. She was 21 years old.
She won a few Professional Figure Skating World Championships, and was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. She was asked by the US Olympic committee to be the on-site celebrity representative at the 2002 Salt Lake City games, and she, along with Dorothy Hamill and other Winter Olympians, was selected by President Bush to be part of the U.S. Delegation for the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.
SO THAT WAS THAT, RIGHT? EVERYTHING ENDED FOR HER AFTER SKATING?
HELL NO!!
Debi graduated from Stanford University in 1991 with a degree in engineering, and then graduated from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1997, and also completed her residency in orthopedic surgery. In June 2005, Debi graduated from the Orthopedic Residency Program at Charles R. Drew University in L.A. In 2006 she passed Step I of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgeons' exam and completed her work at King-Drew Medical Center as a junior attending physician specialist. She is currently a practicing doctor in Terre Haute, Indiana.
SO THAT'S DOCTOR DEBI THOMAS TO YOU SLORES
More photos:
Videos:
Click to viewIf she skated clean, she DEF would've gotten the gold. I have no doubt.
Watching this really shows how the psychology of competing in the Olympics can really get to you...if only she had been able to pull this off in Calgary...
AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM DR. THOMAS:
source&source