Debi Thomas
Debi Thomas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Debra (Debi) Janine Thomas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Poughkeepsie, New York, United States | March 25, 1967||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Skating club | Los Angeles Figure Skating Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Debra Janine Thomas (born March 25, 1967) is an American
Early life
Thomas was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, and grew up in San Jose, California. Her parents divorced when she was young. Her mother worked as a computer programming analyst in Sunnyvale, California.[1]
Skating career
Thomas started skating at age 5 in San Jose. She competed in her first figure skating competition at age 9, finishing in first place. From then on, she was hooked on competitive skating.[2] She attributes most of her success to her mother who sacrificed to drive her over 100 miles a day between home, school, and the ice rink.
As a young child, Thomas was coached by Barbara Toigo Vitkovits at Eastridge Mall in San Jose.[3] At age 10, Thomas was introduced to Scottish skating coach Alex McGowan. In 1983, she began to represent the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, which launched her career. McGowan would remain her coach until she retired from amateur competition at age 21.
Thomas placed fifth in the World Championships in 1985 and won gold in 1986.
In 1987, Thomas suffered with
Thomas relocated to Boulder, Colorado, in the winter of 1987–88 to prepare for the Olympics.[1] In January 1988, she reclaimed the U.S. national title. At the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary, she and Katarina Witt engaged in a rivalry that the media dubbed the "Battle of the Carmens", as both women skated their long programs to the music of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen.[8] Thomas' Carmen program consisted of "big powerful jumps",[9] fast spins in strong positions, Spanish steps that were sharply accented, an uplifted torso, and straight, clean lines as expressed in her arms and legs. According to figure skater writer and historian Ellyn Kestnbaum, Thomas presented in her program an outer-directed focus and the image of a powerful and confident woman "taking command of the space around her by moving forth into it".[9] In Thomas' short program, she used techno dance music and wore "a form-fitting skirtless unitard that showed off both her long lines and her musculature".[9] It also included "big jumps", as well as "a high-energy step sequence involving angled limbs, shoulder isolations, and syncopated rhythms".[9] Kestnabum suggests that Thomas' use of contemporary urban dance forms in her short program evoked images of her African American culture and heritage.[9]
Thomas skated strong compulsory figures and performed well in the short program to an instrumental version of "Something in My House" by Dead or Alive. In her free skating program, she made mistakes on a number of jumps and placed fourth in that segment of the competition. Thomas began with a triple toe-triple toe combination, which was rare for a female skater in the 1980s.[10] The second triple was not perfect and by her own admission, Thomas gave up on the rest of the program.[1] Overall, she finished third and won the bronze medal, behind Witt and Canadian skater Elizabeth Manley (Thomas fell from first place going into the long program to third place overall in the final standings).[11] By winning the bronze medal, Thomas became the first black athlete to win any medal at the Winter Olympics.[12]
Thomas won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Championships and then retired from amateur skating. She performed for Stars on Ice and won the 1988 World Professional Championships in Landover, Maryland.[1] She won the title again in both 1989 and 1991.
In February 1989, Thomas ranked 12th in the Q Score athlete standings, the only woman in the top 22.[1] She was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. She was also selected by President George W. Bush to be part of the U.S. Delegation for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy along with other former Olympians: Dorothy Hamill, Eric Heiden, Kerri Strug, and Herschel Walker. Thomas returned to the ice briefly to participate in "The Caesars Tribute: A Salute to the Golden Age of American Skating", an event which featured many of the greatest legends and icons of American figure skating.
Thomas returned to competition in October 2023 at the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships in Lake Placid, New York.[13] She placed second in the ladies figure championship and seventh in ladies fancy skating.[14]
Medical career
Thomas expressed interest in becoming a doctor from an early age.[15] She studied at Stanford University during her competitive career until her move to Boulder, Colorado, during the 1987–88 season, and had resumed her studies by 1989.[1] She graduated from Stanford in 1991 with a degree in engineering and then from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1997.[15] Thomas followed this with a surgical residency at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Hospital and an orthopedic surgery residency at the Martin Luther King Jr./Charles Drew University Medical Center in South Central Los Angeles.[16]
Thomas went on to become a practicing
As of December 2010, Thomas was in private practice at ORTHO X-cellence Debra J. Thomas, MD, PC in Richlands, Virginia, which has since ceased operations.[19]
Personal life
Thomas, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, married Brian Vander Hogen on March 15, 1988, in Boulder, Colorado.[20][21] After their relationship ended, she married a sports attorney, Chris Bequette, in autumn 1996.[15] Before divorcing, they had a son named Luc Bequette (b. 1997), who as of 2021 played defensive tackle for UC Berkeley.[22]
Thomas was diagnosed with
Thomas currently lives and trains in Florida.[28]
Programs
Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
---|---|---|---|
1987–1988 | Something in My House
by Dead or Alive |
Carmen by Georges Bizet |
Competitive highlights
Amateur career
International | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 1982–83 | 1983–84 | 1984–85 | 1985–86 | 1986–87 | 1987–88 |
Winter Olympics | 3rd | |||||
World Champ. | 5th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||
Skate America | 1st | |||||
Skate Canada | 1st | |||||
NHK Trophy | 2nd | |||||
St. Ivel | 1st | |||||
Nebelhorn Trophy | 1st | |||||
St. Gervais | 1st | |||||
National | ||||||
U.S. Champ. | 13th | 6th | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st |
Professional career
Event | 1988 | 1989 | 1991 |
---|---|---|---|
World Professional Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Harvey, Randy (February 26, 1989). "The Night When It All Slipped Away: A Year Ago, Debi Thomas Didn't Skate, or Behave, Like a Champion". Los Angeles Times.
- ISBN 9781609106126
- ^ Almond, Elliott (December 16, 2015). "Exclusive: Olympic medalist Debi Thomas talks about her path to Virginia trailer". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
- ^ "Debi Thomas Wins World Skating Title; Chin Takes Third". Los Angeles Times. 22 March 1986. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ a b Swift, E.M. (February 17, 1986). "Books Or Blades, There's No Doubting Thomas". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
- ^ "Candace Award Recipients 1982-1990, Page 3". National Coalition of 100 Black Women. Archived from the original on March 14, 2003.
- ^ Janofsky, Michael (January 6, 1988). "Skaters Have No More Time to Dream". The New York Times.
- ^ Harvey, Randy (27 February 1988). "Winter Olympics; Two Carmens:...But There Will Be One Winner; Will Witt or Thomas Take the Gold?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ ISBN 0-8195-6641-1.
- ^ Mossman, John (12 December 1987). "Debi Thomas Hopes Triple-Triple Will Bring Her Olympic Gold". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Debi Thomas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
- ^ "Debi Thomas". Biography.com. 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Debi Thomas, 1988 Olympic medalist, returns to a different figure skating competition". NBC Sports. 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ "2023 World Figure & Fancy Skating Championships Unofficial Results - Google Drive". drive.google.com. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ a b c "Where are they now? Debi Thomas". ESPN.com. February 24, 2000. Archived from the original on August 20, 2000. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- ^ Vara, Vauhini (July 2002). "Good-Bye Skates, Hello Scrubs". Stanford Magazine. Archived from the original on August 10, 2002. Retrieved January 16, 2006.
- ^ "AHIMA speaker - Dr. Debi Thomas". The American Health Information Management Association. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Pressey, Debra (September 8, 2007). "Olympic skater Thomas joins Carle orthopedic staff". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 27, 2016.
- ^ a b McCoy, Terrence (2016-02-26). "The best African American figure skater in history is now bankrupt and living in a trailer". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
- ^ Speers, W. (March 30, 1988). "Belfast Boos After Nelson Bows Out". philly.com.
- ISBN 9780810347496.
- ^ Curtis, Jake (July 27, 2021). "Cal Football Roster Released: Luc Bequette on the Roster". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
- ^ Terrence McCoy, The best African American figure skater in history is now bankrupt and living in a trailer washingtonpost.com February 26, 2016
- ^ McCoy, Terrence (February 26, 2016). "The best African American figure skater in history is now bankrupt and living in a trailer". The Washington Post.
- ^ Chan, Melissa (November 7, 2015). "Olympic figure skater and doctor Debi Thomas reveals she's broke, living in bug-infested trailer in emotional interview". NY Daily News. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ Carlson, Adam (November 7, 2015). "History-Making Olympian Debi Thomas Reveals She Is Now Broke and Living in a Bed Bug-Infested Trailer". People. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ^ McCoy, Terrence (February 26, 2016). "The best African American figure skater in history is now broke and living in a trailer". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Figures and Fancy Skating | U.S. Figure Skating". USFS. 2024-01-27. Retrieved 2024-02-04.