20. Debi Thomas winning the bronze medal in figure skating
While I was too young to have seen Debi at the Olympics, I learned about her though old Sports Illustrated issues my mom would buy me from the thrift store. She quickly became one of my favorite skaters ever, even if I didn’t really get to see her on TV, and only really saw her skate on YouTube when I was in college. Her short performance at the Olympics, set to Dead of Alive’s Something in My House, is my all time favorite figure skating performance ever.
Her competitor for years was Germany’s Katarina Witt. For a long time they were always 1 2 1 2 at international events. While Debi led in the short program, she stumbled in her long program, and Witt won her second gold medal (Canada’s Elizabeth Manley won silver) I understood, but that was heartbreaking. Oh, I also forgot to mention that they both skated to music from Carmen. Battling Carmens they would say.
But Debi had a bronze medal (the first black athlete ever to win a medal at the winter Olympics) and was headed to medical school (she was pre-med at Stamford prior to the Olympics). She eventually became a orthopedic surgeon!
Unfortunately, in the last six years or so, there has been some concern for Debi. She moved to a rural area in Virginia to open a medical practice, and it faltered. In 2015, it was reported that she was living in a nasty trailer and involved with a violent man. She also believes in some gold selling hoax? And her facebook is just her posting her scams. Her son (who her ex has custody of) plays football at Cal State apparently. I’m really sad about it. I think about her a lot.
–
There were several up and comers at that Olympics, Midorti Ito, Jill Trenary, Paul Wylie, Viktor Petrenko, Kurt Browning, Petr Barna, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, and Isabelle Duchesnay and Paul Duchesnay.
(Kelly Garrison Steves, my favorite member of the 88 team)
21. Ladies gymnastics team lose bronze medal due to some rule?
This one was a little hard for me to follow. So, there was this rule in gymnastics where no other athlete could be in the vicinity of the equipment while somebody was performing. For example, if a girl was on the balance beam, there couldn’t be another girl standing on the podium next to the beam. Maybe the L.A. Times can explain it better:
SEOUL — The U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team was beaten today for the bronze medal by an East German team that survived because of a penalty called by an East German official, setting off a war of words that is unlikely to end soon.
While the Soviet Union dethroned Olympic champion Romania for the gold medal, East Germany captured the bronze in a dramatic and controversy-filled battle with the American team.
“In our hearts we know we deserve the bronze,” said Phoebe Mills, 15, one of the American stars.
“We got ripped,” said Mike Jacki, executive director of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. “We will sleep well tonight because we know we were the third-best team out there. I hope the East Germans can sleep.”
Less Than a Point
East Germany finished with 390.875 points; the United States finished with 390.575. The East German margin of victory was more than matched by a half-point penalty assessed against the Americans two nights before.
The penalty was called by Ellen Berger, an East German official who heads the gymnastics rules committee.
[…]
But the Americans simply could not overcome what may be remembered as the biggest half-point in Olympic gymnastics history.
The half-point penalty had come in Monday’s compulsory competition because team alternate Rhonda Faehn stayed on the platform when teammate Kelly Garrison-Steves performed her routine on the uneven bars.
The Americans argued that the violation was too minor and obscure to merit a deduction from the score the athletes had earned. They said the intent of the rule had not been violated, since it was obvious that Faehn was not assisting Garrison-Steves.
Different Viewpoint
Berger’s comment on the brouhaha was succinct:
“The rule says that a coach or a gymnast cannot be on the podium. It is punishable by a reduction. A rule is a rule,” Berger told the Associated Press. 1
Why was the alternate, Rhonda even there? Now, the alternates sit in the stands, right? They’re only there just in case someone is injured before the Olympics begins?
22. Caryn Kadavy misses the Olympic figure skating finals because of the flu
United States figure skater Caryn Kadavy missed the long program because she fell ill with the flu and a 104º fever. ABC had the audacity to show her, sick on the couch, watching the long program on TV. And we all thought NBC failed at the Olympics. I’m mad I can’t find the clip on YouTube, I haven’t seen it since college back in 2010. Here’s an interview with her while she was still sick.
(Sports Illustrated, January 27, 1988, I had this issue growing up and I memorized it)
23. Battle of the Brians: Brian Boitano vs Brian Orser
Like the Carmen battle with the women, the two Brians fought on the ice at Calgary. Boitano won, hands down. Orser became coach to Yuna Kim (2010 figure skating gold medalist) and Yuzuru Hanyu (2014 figure skating gold medalist).
(Sports Illustrated, July 25, 1988)
24. Florence Griffith-Joyner becomes the fastest woman in the world at the Olympic Trials
She ran the 100 meters in 10.49 seconds! She still holds the record today! Above is the amazing uniform she wore that day. She was known for her fashion as much as her running.
FloJo died in 1998 from a seizure. I wonder a lot what she would be doing today.
25. Anthony Nesty wins the first Olympic medal for Suriname, and its gold
Swimmer Anthony Nesty beat out favorite Matt Biondi in the 100-metre butterfly, becoming the second black man to win a swimming medal at the Olympics, and becoming the first from his country to win a medal at the Olympics. He came back in 1992 and won a bronze medal in the same event.
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1. “U.S. Team Loses Bronze–‘We Were Cheated’: Karolyi : E. German’s Ruling Riles Americans,” Los Angeles Times, September 21, 1988. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-21/news/mn-2336_1_american-team
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