Dear Debbie, you always were and always will be my personal hero! You were the mistress of the ice, a phenomenal physician, surgeon and mom. If you did it once you can do it again! God bless! SJxx
I watched this and Katarina Witts (who won) performance to Carmen and I don't understand how this and was worse, Debi had as much fire and passion and became Carmen just like Katarina. I heard someone say Debi was just skating, I totally don't agree after watching this and honestly liked this performance more than Katarina's, maybe she had more misses and why she lost (not that it matters anymore as it was more than 😁 30 years ago but Debi was amazing).
@@valmacclinchy yes but she a shoe-in to win gold and she was disappointed as well as well as everyone who admired her. You had to be there. Fr it was heartbreaking 💔
I have always loved Debi's strength, grace and ownership of the ice. Being the first is never easy and she did it with dignity and class. Peggy Fleming seemed to always take digs at her which me wonder about her sometimes. But Debi skated like there was no tomorrow and went on into the pros and kicked some chilly butts! Thanks for posting this.
You have to understand that Peggy trained under Carlo Fassi, who coached Debi's two main rivals Jill Trenary and Caryn Kadavy. She had her biases. She really seemed to love Kadavy especially. But she was downright pleasant here compared to her commentary in 1984, where she never could say one nice thing about Elaine Zayak, or if she did it came across as "You can tell Elaine has been working on her artistry, but it's still not enough..." Peggy got nicer with age, unlike me!
@@LiamForeman LOL! Please note that I was lucky enough to see Ms. Fleming grace the ice back when she skated as both an amatuer and professional and I had much much respect for her as a skater. But as a Judge you are supposed to be unbiased. Ms. Thomas was underscored and not given the respect that she deserved. Many times I felt that if she "Looked" Like Ms. Kadavy she would have had better scores and fairer treatment. They have tried to do away with that with the new scoring system. Unfortunately I don't watch figure skating that often unless its the group of skaters that we are talking about on CZcams. Thanks for responding. Stay safe and healthy.
@@geoffreyr2356 that’s total nonsense. Had nothing to do with “how Debi looked.” You’re stirring things up. Problem was she never skated cleanly. There- I explained in one, logical and honest sentence.
@@Person-mh6xq I was not stirring anything up. But you seem to have the spoon in your hand. Maybe you should watch ALL of her performances before you make such an ignorant statement. Buh bye!
I absolutely loved her when i was growing up! One year for Christmas my mom got tickets to go downtown and see her and Roslyn and Scott perform and afterwards went to the meet n greet and got all their autographs!! Was a dream come true for this little girl once upon a time ❤️ still feel honored to this day and am 41 now! They could tell i was star-struck
She WON in my mind. Katrina witt didn't even move, just flirted in the middle of the ice. Debbie actually skated. Katrina might have the gold medal but Debbie thomas was #1!
@TriciaRP Debi was great and she endured alot of racist nonsense. Even her own darn coach said I hope the judging panel isn't all men cause then Witt will definitely win over Thomas. Also Witt was being compared to Brooke Shields who was one of the biggest stars at the time. Alot of nonsense going on that definitely would NOT fly nowadays. Remember....when a person of color no a black person is first to do something they always bear the brunt of nonsense. Only good thing is that it makes it a bit easier and better for those that come behind them like Gabby Douglas did for Simone Biles.
Drama, poise, balance, grace, precision, pace, sculptoring of ice. Clearly shows the edging of skills and jumps. With every cognitive sense of weight, landing, and poise. Flawless Presentation. Truly an Execution of an Olympian Athletic Champion ¤
@@wandaemory5073 Not sure why you're upset. Was a fan of hers & most would love to have seen this performance in the Ladies Long. Debi had the powerful jumps, which Kat lacked. A clean LP would've made it a nail biter.
@@bernieudo4399 I agree. This LP would have beaten Witt, and even if Manley still won the LP as long as Debi was ahead of Witt she would win the overall title. Her performance here was so much more dynamic than the Olys.
@@LiamForeman Read she was, but no longer. Can anyone verify? A shame Debi isn't practicing family med here since there's a shortage. Hope she gets back in.
@@LiamForeman "Only"??? Meanwhile the white girls were complaining about how hard practice was....oh yeah, and tryna figure out what color scrunchy to wear.
omg this is such an amazing performance from Debi I'd not seen. Here she's got that spark that was missing at the Olympics. This such a dynamic performance, now I realize what her Carmen was supposed to be like after watching this. Thanks for posting! Love this so much!
Debi Thomas a trailblazer and a strong person to attend school at Stanford while training. However something happened to her mental state after she left skating. She had trouble getting along with other doctors, had failed marriage, lost her physician's license and lived in a trailer in the Appalachian mountains. Wish her post-skating life could have been happier for her own sake. Not sure what she is doing now (April 2022).
Debi did four triple jumps here, two triple toe jumps in combination and two triple salchows. She doubled one triple jump. People say if she skated this well at the Calgary Olympics, she would've won the Gold. I don‘t know, I have a strong suspicion Katarina would still edge Debi for the Gold bc Witt‘s long program has more polish and higher artistic marks. Debi‘s strength was her technical marks, but she always fell short in artistic marks compared to Katarina. If you look at the 87 World's long program, both skaters skated their best, but Witt scored higher artistic marks and still beat Debi for the World title. I think that's how it would play out in Calgary even if Debi skated like she did here. Katarina also handled the pressure better in Calgary. Debi caved in to the pressure and expectations in her long program.
It definitely would have been a nail-biter if Debi had skated like this in Calgary. She had 3toe-3toe, 3loop, and 3sal in this USN performance. Witt only had the two 3toes and 3sals.
Thomas would have beaten Witt at Calgary and definitely at Worlds with this performance. This would have gotten 5.8 5.8 to Witts 5.7 5.9 and Manley 5.9 5.8
@@metsdudenj ... On technical merit. Katerina's choreography was on another level though, and on artistic merit I think she would have still pulled in the gold. One skated as if intimately familiar with the character and story; the other just had a routine set to that music and practically any other music with similar tempo would do. Nothing about Debi's routine says "Carmen," whereas Katerina's free skate embodied the role better than anyone could expect in under 5 minutes.
@@phoenixshade3 technically there was 1.5 minutes where she did almost nothing but pose. Had Debi skated with all 5 triples, she would have won. The issue was the SP was scored wrong, because Kadavy should have won the whole thing, with Thomas second and Ito third.
@@metsdudenj That is a pretty big "if." Witt had 4 triples (completed) in her routine, and 5 doubles. A couple were "make-ups" for missed combinations (which both of them had that night). I believe her first triple-double was also supposed to be a triple-triple. What you call "1.5 minutes of posing," I call 1.5 minutes of controled, creative footwork and spin elements. Footwork at a slow tempo can be hard to control, and in fact Debi had been criticized earlier in her career for that exact lack of control and finesse in those slower, "easier" elements. And then there is my previous point about artistic merit. Carmen DIES. She is stabbed and bleeds out. This theme is not well-suited to a frenetic ending. (Even so, Witt threw a double in this part of the routine.) It IS suited to dramatic interpretation, which was always one of Katerina's strengths. It is usual in figure skating for there to be some questionable judging, and even moreso in that era. Add to that the enormous pressure on the judges for it to be the "Battle of the Carmens" that the media had been promoting heavily throughout the women's competition, and it's no surprise that some excellent SP performances got shafted by the numbers. Debi's LP performance probably shouldn't have even made the podium. Katerina missed either 2 or 3 combinations, one of them resulting in a full extra rotation that she tried to make look graceful but was painfully obvious. Truth be told, Elizabeth Manley was probably the only one who truly deserved her spot on the podium. The highlight of 1988's figure skating was Gordieva-Grinkov. Now THAT was near perfection. Everything after that was a footnote to me.
Question to anyone: Was Debi the first American woman to do a triple/triple combination in the long program? Trying to think of another American woman who did one before her and cannot think of one?
the first AMERICAN woman. Midori Ito was the first Japanese woman. The upper body strength and speed it takes is enormous to get up into the air. The last time I did a mere double axel, I was 19 and that was right before my knee failed. Surgery right after. Skating is hard!
They report so many "firsts". The first one to attempt one, the first to land it, the first to land it cleanly, the first to do it in national competition, and so on and so forth....
D_Moye - Debi did not land a triple axel (31/2 revolutions) in this program. She did a triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination. That means she hoisted herself into the air and rotated three times, landed, and without taking any steps, hoisted herself back in the air and rotated three more times.
D_Moye there are different types of triple jumps the triple axel they enter it facing forward before the go into the air that’s how you can tell it’s an axel
It’s. a shame what has happened to one ☝️ of the most graceful Skater ever . Wishing you the best in life Debbie . Marriage problems are a bitch . Stay strong beautiful . Studying 📚 was also very straining on you . ❤️ how you always handle your loss when competing. Keep strong . Bless. 💔.
Dear Debbie, you always were and always will be my personal hero! You were the mistress of the ice, a phenomenal physician, surgeon and mom. If you did it once you can do it again! God bless! SJxx
I remember being devastated when she lost in the Olympics. I have no idea how she was a professional figure skater and studying to be a doctor. Wow❤️
She won the bronze medal. I wouldn't call that losing.
The training is intense, but as they don't get paid, Olympic athletes are amateurs, not professionals.
I watched this and Katarina Witts (who won) performance to Carmen and I don't understand how this and was worse, Debi had as much fire and passion and became Carmen just like Katarina. I heard someone say Debi was just skating, I totally don't agree after watching this and honestly liked this performance more than Katarina's, maybe she had more misses and why she lost (not that it matters anymore as it was more than 😁 30 years ago but Debi was amazing).
She’s a WoW person !!
@@valmacclinchy yes but she a shoe-in to win gold and she was disappointed as well as well as everyone who admired her. You had to be there. Fr it was heartbreaking 💔
I have always loved Debi's strength, grace and ownership of the ice. Being the first is never easy and she did it with dignity and class. Peggy Fleming seemed to always take digs at her which me wonder about her sometimes. But Debi skated like there was no tomorrow and went on into the pros and kicked some chilly butts! Thanks for posting this.
Your right about Peggy smh
You have to understand that Peggy trained under Carlo Fassi, who coached Debi's two main rivals Jill Trenary and Caryn Kadavy. She had her biases. She really seemed to love Kadavy especially. But she was downright pleasant here compared to her commentary in 1984, where she never could say one nice thing about Elaine Zayak, or if she did it came across as "You can tell Elaine has been working on her artistry, but it's still not enough..." Peggy got nicer with age, unlike me!
@@LiamForeman LOL! Please note that I was lucky enough to see Ms. Fleming grace the ice back when she skated as both an amatuer and professional and I had much much respect for her as a skater. But as a Judge you are supposed to be unbiased. Ms. Thomas was underscored and not given the respect that she deserved. Many times I felt that if she "Looked" Like Ms. Kadavy she would have had better scores and fairer treatment. They have tried to do away with that with the new scoring system. Unfortunately I don't watch figure skating that often unless its the group of skaters that we are talking about on CZcams.
Thanks for responding. Stay safe and healthy.
@@geoffreyr2356 that’s total nonsense. Had nothing to do with “how Debi looked.” You’re stirring things up. Problem was she never skated cleanly. There- I explained in one, logical and honest sentence.
@@Person-mh6xq I was not stirring anything up. But you seem to have the spoon in your hand.
Maybe you should watch ALL of her performances before you make such an ignorant statement.
Buh bye!
I absolutely loved her when i was growing up! One year for Christmas my mom got tickets to go downtown and see her and Roslyn and Scott perform and afterwards went to the meet n greet and got all their autographs!! Was a dream come true for this little girl once upon a time ❤️ still feel honored to this day and am 41 now! They could tell i was star-struck
This is the first figure skating performance I ever watched. Special memories . Thank you for posting!
Mine too!
Wonderful speed and flow.
She WON in my mind. Katrina witt didn't even move, just flirted in the middle of the ice. Debbie actually skated. Katrina might have the gold medal but Debbie thomas was #1!
. K A T A R I N A W I T T
N U M B E R O N E 🏆
Rigged. Debbie should have won but as always. W h i t e
@TriciaRP Debi was great and she endured alot of racist nonsense. Even her own darn coach said I hope the judging panel isn't all men cause then Witt will definitely win over Thomas. Also Witt was being compared to Brooke Shields who was one of the biggest stars at the time. Alot of nonsense going on that definitely would NOT fly nowadays. Remember....when a person of color no a black person is first to do something they always bear the brunt of nonsense. Only good thing is that it makes it a bit easier and better for those that come behind them like Gabby Douglas did for Simone Biles.
I love when they say, "she elected to not do that triple." Lol
I wish she had won the gold medal long with the rest of America. Witt was very good but Thomas had a lot of grace and athleticism. She was fantastic.
Drama, poise, balance, grace, precision, pace, sculptoring of ice. Clearly shows the edging of skills and jumps. With every cognitive sense of weight, landing, and poise. Flawless Presentation. Truly an Execution of an Olympian Athletic Champion ¤
Much better memory than the Olympics. Thanks for posting!
Debi was such a class act and always a lady.
Oh if this was the performance @ Calgary 1988. 🔥
Jerk
@@wandaemory5073 Not sure why you're upset. Was a fan of hers & most would love to have seen this performance in the Ladies Long. Debi had the powerful jumps, which Kat lacked. A clean LP would've made it a nail biter.
@@bernieudo4399 I agree. This LP would have beaten Witt, and even if Manley still won the LP as long as Debi was ahead of Witt she would win the overall title. Her performance here was so much more dynamic than the Olys.
Amazing 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 after an injury and medical school at Stanford University
She was only pre-med at Stanford. Also flunked Organic Chemistry there according to a student who knew her there.
@@LiamForeman Later a practicing M.D. in California, whose Boards are the toughest. Update please if not so then what state?
@@bernieudo4399 Was she EVER board certified?
@@LiamForeman Read she was, but no longer. Can anyone verify? A shame Debi isn't practicing family med here since there's a shortage. Hope she gets back in.
@@LiamForeman "Only"??? Meanwhile the white girls were complaining about how hard practice was....oh yeah, and tryna figure out what color scrunchy to wear.
omg this is such an amazing performance from Debi I'd not seen. Here she's got that spark that was missing at the Olympics. This such a dynamic performance, now I realize what her Carmen was supposed to be like after watching this. Thanks for posting! Love this so much!
1:53 coolest move ever
Yes, that sequence was very effective, aligned beautifully with the music at the point of execution. I saw it live in Denver in January 1988.
@@MrOu83 how wonderful! I watched it on TV at the time..
You had the most beautiful legs I think I’ve ever seen on a skater! Such grace and poise. ❤
Debi Thomas a trailblazer and a strong person to attend school at Stanford while training.
However something happened to her mental state after she left skating. She had trouble getting along with other doctors, had failed marriage, lost her physician's license and lived in a trailer in the Appalachian mountains.
Wish her post-skating life could have been happier for her own sake.
Not sure what she is doing now (April 2022).
Debi did four triple jumps here, two triple toe jumps in combination and two triple salchows. She doubled one triple jump.
People say if she skated this well at the Calgary Olympics, she would've won the Gold.
I don‘t know, I have a strong suspicion Katarina would still edge Debi for the Gold bc Witt‘s long program has more polish and higher artistic marks. Debi‘s strength was her technical marks, but she always fell short in artistic marks compared to Katarina.
If you look at the 87 World's long program, both skaters skated their best, but Witt scored higher artistic marks and still beat Debi for the World title.
I think that's how it would play out in Calgary even if Debi skated like she did here. Katarina also handled the pressure better in Calgary. Debi caved in to the pressure and expectations in her long program.
It definitely would have been a nail-biter if Debi had skated like this in Calgary. She had 3toe-3toe, 3loop, and 3sal in this USN performance. Witt only had the two 3toes and 3sals.
Thomas would have beaten Witt at Calgary and definitely at Worlds with this performance. This would have gotten 5.8 5.8 to Witts 5.7 5.9 and Manley 5.9 5.8
@@metsdudenj ... On technical merit. Katerina's choreography was on another level though, and on artistic merit I think she would have still pulled in the gold. One skated as if intimately familiar with the character and story; the other just had a routine set to that music and practically any other music with similar tempo would do. Nothing about Debi's routine says "Carmen," whereas Katerina's free skate embodied the role better than anyone could expect in under 5 minutes.
@@phoenixshade3 technically there was 1.5 minutes where she did almost nothing but pose. Had Debi skated with all 5 triples, she would have won. The issue was the SP was scored wrong, because Kadavy should have won the whole thing, with Thomas second and Ito third.
@@metsdudenj That is a pretty big "if." Witt had 4 triples (completed) in her routine, and 5 doubles. A couple were "make-ups" for missed combinations (which both of them had that night). I believe her first triple-double was also supposed to be a triple-triple. What you call "1.5 minutes of posing," I call 1.5 minutes of controled, creative footwork and spin elements. Footwork at a slow tempo can be hard to control, and in fact Debi had been criticized earlier in her career for that exact lack of control and finesse in those slower, "easier" elements.
And then there is my previous point about artistic merit. Carmen DIES. She is stabbed and bleeds out. This theme is not well-suited to a frenetic ending. (Even so, Witt threw a double in this part of the routine.) It IS suited to dramatic interpretation, which was always one of Katerina's strengths.
It is usual in figure skating for there to be some questionable judging, and even moreso in that era. Add to that the enormous pressure on the judges for it to be the "Battle of the Carmens" that the media had been promoting heavily throughout the women's competition, and it's no surprise that some excellent SP performances got shafted by the numbers. Debi's LP performance probably shouldn't have even made the podium. Katerina missed either 2 or 3 combinations, one of them resulting in a full extra rotation that she tried to make look graceful but was painfully obvious. Truth be told, Elizabeth Manley was probably the only one who truly deserved her spot on the podium.
The highlight of 1988's figure skating was Gordieva-Grinkov. Now THAT was near perfection. Everything after that was a footnote to me.
Beautiful performance
Thank you Pioneer!
I truly remember her😍💗🇺🇸
"Not her greatest performance". Get a life
She thinks Debi has done better did you see all Debi's previous performances?
What a beautiful skater and trailblazer.
Gorgeous!!! 😘
This is the performance she needed at the Olympics. Unfortunately it didn’t happen.
Question to anyone: Was Debi the first American woman to do a triple/triple combination in the long program? Trying to think of another American woman who did one before her and cannot think of one?
these commentators are annoying
Wow impressive!
That is really cool!
But why is Tonya Harding being reported as the first woman to accomplish the triple axel??? Someone clarify
the first AMERICAN woman. Midori Ito was the first Japanese woman. The upper body strength and speed it takes is enormous to get up into the air. The last time I did a mere double axel, I was 19 and that was right before my knee failed. Surgery right after. Skating is hard!
They report so many "firsts". The first one to attempt one, the first to land it, the first to land it cleanly, the first to do it in national competition, and so on and so forth....
D_Moye - Debi did not land a triple axel (31/2 revolutions) in this program. She did a triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination. That means she hoisted herself into the air and rotated three times, landed, and without taking any steps, hoisted herself back in the air and rotated three more times.
D_Moye there are different types of triple jumps the triple axel they enter it facing forward before the go into the air that’s how you can tell it’s an axel
Give Tonya the credit she deserves. The 1991 Nationals was her best!
It’s. a shame what has happened to one ☝️ of the most graceful Skater ever . Wishing you the best in life Debbie . Marriage problems are a bitch . Stay strong beautiful . Studying 📚 was also very straining on you . ❤️ how you always handle your loss when competing. Keep strong . Bless. 💔.
Well, at least she didn't hit another skater in the leg, to get an advantage!
But she did not know she was competing agains the best; Katarina Witt at the Olympics
Moxy. Lol
A shame!
nada espectacular tenia miedo a los saltos