Debi Thomas - Citizendia

Figure skating
Olympic medal record
Bronze	1988 Calgary	Ladies' singles

Debi Thomas, M. Figure skating has been contested in the Olympic Games since the 1908 Summer Olympics. The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in Calgary Figure skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics The events took place at the Stampede Corral and the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary D. (born March 25, 1967), is a former figure skater. Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. She was the first African American to win a medal at a Winter Olympics, winning the bronze medal in ladies figure skating at the 1988 winter Olympics. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The Winter Olympic Games are a winter Multi-sport event held every four years Figure skating is an athletic Sport in which individuals pairs or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging She is now an orthopedic surgeon.

Thomas won the 1986 U. S. National ladies' figure skating title and the Ladies' title at the 1986 World Figure Skating Championships; those achievements earned Thomas the ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year award that year. The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. ABC's Wide World of Sports was a long-running Sports Anthology show on American Television that ran as a series from 1961 to 1998 She represented the Crystal Springs Figure Skating club and was coached by Alex MacGowan. In 1987, Thomas struggled at the U. S. Nationals, placing second to Jill Trenary, but rebounded at the World Championships, finishing a close second to East German skater Katarina Witt. Jill Trenary (born August 1, 1968) is an American figure skater. Katarina Witt (born December 3, 1965) is a German figure skater, in Germany she was commonly affectionately called "Kati" Thomas was a pre-med student at Stanford University during this time, and she became the first and only African American to hold U. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in S. National and World titles in ladies' singles figure skating (Tai Babilonia was previously a U. Tai Reina Babilonia (born September 22, 1959) is a US Figure skater, the partner of Randy Gardner. S. and World champion in pair skating. Pair skating is a Figure skating discipline International Skating Union (ISU regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man )

In January 1988, Thomas reclaimed the U. S. National title. At the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary, she and Katarina Witt engaged in a rivalry that the media dubbed the "Battle of the Carmens", as both women skated their long programs to the music of Bizet's opera Carmen. Calgary (ˈkælgəriː is the largest city in the Province of Alberta, Canada Katarina Witt (born December 3, 1965) is a German figure skater, in Germany she was commonly affectionately called "Kati" The Battle of the Carmens is an informal name given to a Figure skating rivalry between East German Katarina Witt and American Debi Thomas Georges Bizet (25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875 was a French Composer and Pianist of the Romantic era Carmen is a French Opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The Libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based Thomas skated strong compulsory figures and performed well in the short program to an instrumental version of "Something in My House" by Dead or Alive, but performed poorly in the long program. Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly an aspect of the sport of Figure skating, from which its name (in English derives Dead or Alive are a British New Wave band from Liverpool that rose to popularity during the 1980s Still finishing third, she was the only American to bring home a medal (bronze) from the event that year, behind Witt and Canadian skater Elizabeth Manley. Elizabeth Ann Manley (born August 7, 1965) is a Canadian figure skater. Thomas won the bronze medal at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships and then retired from amateur skating.

After her figure skating career, Thomas went back to school to become an orthopedic surgeon. She graduated from Stanford University in 1991 with a degree in engineering and from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1997. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in The Feinberg School of Medicine is one of Northwestern University 's 11 schools and colleges Thomas followed this with a surgical residency at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Hospital and an orthopedic surgery residency at the Martin Luther King Jr./Charles Drew University Medical Center in South Central Los Angeles.

In June 2005, Debi graduated from the Orthopaedic Residency Program at Charles R. Drew University in Los Angeles. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS is part of the University of Arkansas System, a state-run University in the U Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science is a private non-profit school founded in 1966 in response to inadequate medical facilities within the Watts region South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South LA, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science is a private non-profit school founded in 1966 in response to inadequate medical facilities within the Watts region She spent the next year preparing for Step I of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons' exam and working at King-Drew Medical Center as a junior attending physician specialist. In July 2006, she began a one-year fellowship at the Dorr Arthritis Institute at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California, for sub-specialty training in adult reconstructive surgery. Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center Centinela Campus is a Hospital in Inglewood, California, USA. Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. In September of 2007, Thomas joined the orthopedic staff at Carle Clinic in Urbana, Illinois.

She still remains involved in the figure skating world as a frequent committee member and judge. Thomas was inducted into the U. S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Alpha Kappa Alpha ( ΆΚΆ) is the first Greek-lettered Sorority established and incorporated by African American college women

In 1988, Thomas married Brian Vanden Hogen, a fellow college student. They later divorced and she married Chris Bequette, a sports attorney, in 1996. She gave birth to a son, Christopher Jules ("Luc"), in 1997.

Competitive highlights

Event/Season	1985	1986	1987	1988
U.S. Championships	2nd	1st	2nd	1st
World Championships	5th	1st	2nd		-	-	-	3rd

External links

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The US Figure Skating Championships is an annual Figure skating competition organized by U The World Figure Skating Championships ( "Worlds") is an annual Figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which

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