When did Debbie Thomas compete in the womens figure skating event at the Olympics?”
Debi Thomas wanted to give the performance of her life in the women’s figure skating event at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Just two years earlier, she had won the national and world figure skating championships and received much media attention and acclaim. But right from the outset of her Olympic long program, things did not go well. She missed her big opening jump combination and realized it would not be the performance of her life. As the world watched, “I really just didn’t want to be out there anymore,” she recalled. The next four minutes of the program were “the hardest, longest four minutes of my life.” She lost the much-hyped “battle of the Carmens” to Katarina Witt, who won the gold (both skated to music from the Bizet opera, Carmen). Thomas still had done well enough to earn the bronze medal — no small accomplishment. Later, when she learned how much support she had from her fans, she wished she had fought harder for the gold. Now an orthopedic surgeon, Thomas said she learned s
Debra Janine “Debi” Thomas (born March 25, 1967), is an American figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion and 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, having taken part in the Battle of the Carmens at those games. In January 1988, Thomas 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 Bizet’s opera Carmen. 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, but performed poorly in the long program, but well enough to finish third, and win the bronze medal, behind Witt and Canadian skater Elizabeth Manley. Thomas won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships and then retired from amateur skating.
