20/10/2023
One of the most successful and influential skaters of the 1980s, Debi Thomas has made a triumphant return to the ice after years away from the sport. Competing in the World Figure & Fancy Skating Championships, Debi has returned to competition with a key focus on artistry and figures.
Debi Thomas shot to international fame when she dethroned reigning World Champion, Katarina Witt of East Germany, at the 1986 World Championships in Geneva. This was the beginning of an intense rivalry between the two skaters, deepened by Cold War tensions and the fact that Witt regained the World title the following year in Cincinnati. Heading into the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, both athletes had a shot at the gold medal.
The rivalry between Witt and Thomas also generated intense media interest due to the fact that both skaters were using music from Georges Bizet’s Carmen for their long program at the Olympics, leading the media to dub the rivalry ‘The Battle of the Carmens.’ Thomas led the field after the compulsory figures, but after scoring higher in the short and long programs, Katarina Witt eventually walked away with the gold medal, Elizabeth Manley of Canada with silver, and Debi Thomas with bronze.
Following the 1988 World Championships, where she also won the bronze medal, Debi Thomas retired from amateur competition and resumed her studies at Stanford, which she put on hold during the 1987-88 season. Graduating with a degree in engineering in 1991 and in medicine in 1997, Thomas went on to become a practicing orthopedic surgeon. In addition to her studies, she also toured with Stars on Ice and competed in professional figure skating competitions in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Professional Championships three times.
After experiencing personal struggles, Debi Thomas has been detailing her return to the skating world on her Instagram account since January of this year. She has stated on Instagram that by sharing her journey, she hopes to inspire others to appreciate the art form of figures, something which the sport has lost since the ISU abolished compulsory figures in 1990. Thomas’ return to skating culminated in her participation in the World Figure & Fancy Skating Championships at the beginning of October.
The World Figure & Fancy Skating Championships were held from 4th-8th October in Lake Placid. Focusing on the artistry of figure skating, the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships aim to “uphold, protect and expand the knowledge, art and competition of Figures and Fancy Skating worldwide.” The competition is comprised made up of two components, the first of which is where the skaters performed six sets of figures on black ice. This is akin to the compulsory figures section of past competitions, which have since been abolished. The second component of the competition, a ‘fancy’ skating program, is a free skate with an emphasis on artistry.
In her fancy skating program, which The Skating Lesson recorded, Thomas performed a beautiful, emotive skate to ‘Amazing Grace.’ Despite the focus being on artistry and less on jumps, Debi Thomas still performed a single Axel jump and merged technical content with artistry throughout her performance. Following her successful outing in both figures and the fancy skate, Thomas placed second out of eight competitors, a phenomenal feat having been away from the ice for so many years.
By taking part in competition, Debi Thomas joins the likes of Midori Ito, who continue to skate and compete into their fifties due to their love of the sport. Thomas’ comeback should resonate and inspire all lovers of the sport of figure skating to remember what is so special about the sport, and to appreciate the legends of the past whose love for skating still rings true today.