#debi thomas

Day 22: Debi Thomas

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Debi Thomas began skating at five years old. By her early teens, she was already competing nationally, standing out for her athletic power and technical difficulty. She also stood out in another way: she was often the only Black skater in elite competitions. Judges routinely favored cleaner-looking programs over the risk and difficulty in her routines, and Thomas was frequently scored more harshly than her peers.

She kept going anyway. While studying engineering at Stanford University, Thomas won the senior women’s title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1986, becoming the first African American woman to win a non-novice national title. That same year, she won the World Championships, confirming she was not just a trailblazer but the best skater in the world.

Two years later, at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Thomas won the bronze medal in women’s figure skating. With that performance, she became the first Black athlete to win a medal at a Winter Olympic Games. The moment mattered not because of symbolism alone, but because it forced open a space in a sport that had long resisted change.

After the Olympics, Thomas stepped away from competitive skating. She returned her focus to academics, earning her degree from Stanford before attending Northwestern University Medical School. She trained as an orthopedic surgeon and later opened her own medical practice—choosing a second career built on discipline and precision, far from the spotlight.

Figure skating in colors: luminous yellow

Featuring:

Maria Sergejeva & Ilja Glebov (2010 Olympics SP)

Maé-Bérénice Méité (2019 GP France SP)

Isadora Williams (2019 Volvo Open SP)

Debi Thomas (1988 Olympics EX)

Yrétha Silété ('At Last' EX)

Marin Honda (2021 Tokyo Regionals FS)

Emmanuel Savary (2020 Peggy Fleming Trophy)

Christine Errath (1976 Olympics FS)