Today In Black History: Debi Thomas Becomes The 1st African American To Win A Winter Olympic Medal
Debi Thomas became the first African-American athlete to earn a medal in the Winter Olympics when she took the bronze in women’s figure skating in 1988.
Thomas was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, and started skating at age 5 winning her first competition at age 9. She led all skaters heading into the long program at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary and finished third winning a bronze medal. She was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. (Source: The Undefeated)
The Skating Champion and former orthopedic surgeon declared bankruptcy in 2014. Thomas has publicly spoke out about losing everything to bankrupt, being bipolar, losing her surgical practice, and living in a trailer home. Thomas told the New York Post, that she even lost her Olympic Bronze Medal in the bankruptcy saying, “They can take away the medal, but they can’t take away the fact that I won it.” (Source: face2faceafrica.com)
Last year, Thomas was spotted on Youtube in Egypt endorsing “BlockCard” which converts cryptocurrency into a Visa debit card. Praying that life is on the upswing for this talented athlete and doctor.
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LISTEN TO RANDI EACH WEEKDAY FROM 10AM – 3PM ON THE
DETROIT PRAISE NETWORK!
Instagram: @PraiseDetroit & @RandiMyles2Go
