Peggy Fleming (1968)
"If Grace Kelly had been a figure skater, she
would've been Peggy Fleming"
Born in 1948, Peggy Fleming was only 19
when she won the only
American gold medal at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics.
After that first win, she became known as the “direct
precursor of ‘short 'n' sassy’ Dorothy Hamill” in the 1970's, and later, Katerina Witt in the
1980's.
Peggy
spent her childhood on a ten-acre farm south of San Jose, California.
Growing up a tomboy who loved to roller skate, Peggy didn’t even try ice-skating until she was nine years old.
A natural born athlete, she took a liking to the sport immediately.
Peggy’s father chose to move the family
to Colorado Springs to encourage Peggy's training.
What made her accomplishments even more breathtaking was the disaster
that directly affected Peggy’s career in the early 1960's. She had been
ice-skating since she was nine, winning various skating titles
around the country. However, in
1961, her entire support system of skaters and coaches was involved in a tragic
plane crash in Belgium on the way to the World Championships in Prague,
including her own coach, Bill Kipp. Eleven years old at the time, Peggy was left
without experienced peers to practice with and without the trainers and
coaches she had been training with her entire life. "I didn't have anyone to
look up to and guide my training," she said later.
At fifteen years old, the Olympic rookie finished sixth at the 1964 Games
in Innsbruck. Peggy's most spectacular moment arrived when she was considered one of the superstars of the 1968
Games held in Grenoble, France. Also, these Olympics were the first to be
televised live and in color to a global television audience.
Peggy single-handedly caused a sudden surge in the sport's popularity.
After the Grenoble Games, Peggy turned pro and became the first female
phenomenon in sports, securing the big contracts that today’s athletes now
expect without much effort. She later went on to star in five television
specials and win two Emmy Awards. In
1981 Peggy joined the sports casting world by becoming a commentator for ABC
Sports. She was elected to the U.S.
Olympic Committee Hall of Fame in 1983, and became the first skater asked to
perform at the White House. Today
she continues to perform in ice shows and appear in some television infomercials.
