The Queen of Skates Workout

February 6th

Debi Thomas

Olympic Figure Skater

History

As a young child, Barbara Toigo Vitkovits coached Thomas at Eastridge Mall in San Jose. At age 10, Thomas was introduced to Scottish skating coach Alex McGowan. McGowan would remain her coach until she retired from amateur competition at age 21. In 1983, she began to represent the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, which launched her career.

Thomas placed fifth in the World Championships in 1985 and won gold in 1986. The eighteen-year-old won the short program and landed four triple jumps to place second in the long program, enough to win the overall competition. Thomas had also won the U.S. national title besides the World Championship that year; these achievements earned Thomas the A.B.C.'s Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year award. She was the first female athlete to win those titles while attending college full-time since Tenley Albright in the 1950s. She was the first African American to hold U.S. National titles in ladies' singles figure skating. Thomas was a pre-med student at Stanford University during this time, although it was unusual for a top U.S. skater to go to college at the same time as competing. That year she received a Candace Award for Trailblazing from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Thomas became the first black athlete to win any medal at the Winter Olympics. Thomas won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Championships and retired from amateur skating. She performed for Stars on Ice and won the 1988 World Professional Championships in Landover, Maryland. She also won the title in 1989 and 1991.

In February 1989, Thomas ranked 12th in the Q Score athlete standings, the only woman in the top 22. She was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000

 The Queen of Skates Workout

Based on her 11 1^st place Title wins

11 Ice Skaters

11 Lateral Lunges

11 Jump Squats

11 Jumping Jacks

11 Minute AMRAP

(As Many Reps as Possible in 11 Minutes)