What happens to figure skaters who don win the gold medal in the Olympics?
Some of them turn pro and become coaches themselves, or go on to become performers in ice shows. Still others will sometimes be able to parlay the skating into an acting or movie career. But for most, they end up going on to college, getting degrees, and returning to a normal life. There have been more than a few Olympic skaters who have gone into the medical and legal fields in one way or another. Debi Thomas is one of these- she’s now known as Dr. Thomas, and has a practice in California, near Palo Alto. Speed skater and multi-Olympic gold medalist Eric Heiden is now a top notch orthopedic surgeon, with a practice in his home town in Wisconsin. So what happens to these athletes isn’t always bad- sometimes, it’s very good.
