Singles, Women

This was to be the Battle of the Carmens between 1984 gold medalist Katarina Witt and American Debi Thomas, the 1986 World Champion. Both were skating their long program to Bizet’s Carmen. Witt was the favorite, having won the 1984-85 and 1987 Worlds, and the 1983-88 Europeans, in addition to her Sarajevo gold medal. Thomas was making history as the first great black figure skater at the Olympics. In the compulsories, Thomas placed second to Soviet Kira Ivanova, with Witt third, followed by Canada’s Liz Manley. Thomas also was second in the short program, won by Witt, but Thomas narrowly led going in to free skating – 2.0 to 2.2 factored placements. Manley was a solid third, but had to count on both Thomas and Witt stumbling in the free skate for her to win. Manley put on a great performance before the partisan Calgary crowd, and won the free skate, but it was not quite enough for gold. Witt skated solidly, if not spectacularly, and placed second, which brought her the gold medal. Thomas had difficulty in the free skating, falling on her first jump, and placed only fourth, which dropped her to the bronze medal. Though Witt and Manley would go on to professional ice shows, Thomas returned to Stanford, where she was a pre-medical student, and later became an orthopaedic surgeon. For Witt, an East German, it was unusual for her to be allowed to skate professionally, and she later toured for a time with Brian Boitano.