Not a huge ice skating fan, but this performance has always struck me as the most beautiful interpretation on ice. Debi Thomas nailed this and chose the most appropriate song to honor her craft. Rest in Peace, George Michael and thank you Debi for this memory I will keep forever.
I was just 19 when Debbie lost the Gold and I cried a little for her that night. I remember falling in love with this song and this performance after she lost....great comeback for her!!!!
This performance has always stuck me as very sad. Dressed beautifully in gold, a tribute performance to her coach and others who supported and admired her.
You didn't let anyone down, sweet lady. You will always be a world champion even though this didn't end the way you wanted it to. This is my favorite exhibition of yours. RIP George Michael! Thanks for all you gave all of us!
It is a mesmerizing song and I loved it and was blown away when the music started and I recognized it. I sat totally spellbound through the whole performance and do every time I watch it. Well done, Debbie and RIP GM.
I remember being blown away by this song and Debi's bittersweet performance after winning the bronze medal in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Perfect song, perfect interpretation. We will miss you George Michael. Thank you for the music.
This always seemed to me to be a creative and passionate skate. She had nothing to lose. And I always thought this song was perfect. I come back to watch this every few months. I miss George M. 😢❤
December 25, 2016- Rest in Peace George Michael. I remember Debi Thomas skating to this song and i decided to come to this video. This is still an amazing performance
I remember watching this on t.v. I wish I could have skated like you. No matter where you placed in 88 Olympics. Thank you Debbie Thomas; for representing America 🇺🇸 in the 1988 Winter Olympics! You were my inspiration back then & you still are today. 😊
I cried as hard today watching this as I did when Debi Thomas first performed after the Calgary Olympics. I feel she wasn't given a fair shake and I couldn't believe her grace in performing after winning the bronze medal. She was and is a hero to me. It was the first time I heard this George Michael song. And,
@@metsdudenj I agree with you, there wasn't anything "unfair" about Debi "only" taking bronze in Calgary, and I also think Jill could/should have placed 4th in the long ahead of Debi. However, I believe Debi would have had to be something like 8th in the long to lose 3rd place overall to Jill, since Debi was so far ahead of Jill after figures and short program. Debi's long was poor but I don't think it was worse than Anna Kondrashova's 7th place program.
She was leading after the short program, and she had a harder long program at a time where the technical mark broke any ties between skaters. If she had skated clean she WOULD have won. She was in full control of her own destiny.
Ich habe größte Hochachtung an sie und habe mich gefreut, das eine Dunkelfarbige Frau so toll laufen durfte und anerkannt wurde. Bei uns in der DDR war Diskriminierung streng verboten. Ich schätze sie dafür um so mehr und für ihre
“Ohh the last one I had…made me cry”…I was 9yrs old watching this and I was so sad for her because she was supposed to win that gold, she was AMAZING but she kept falling on that last performance uuugh, but still was outstanding. So many little blk girls watched her and were so inspired, including myself. This song hits different at the age of 44 and going through life. Thank you George Michael and Debbie Thomas for being such a special momentum in my childhood. ❤️
I've always thought the free skate was such a better barometer of the skaters rather than the short and long program. The exhibition skate I believe shows the skaters real emotion and ability.
This song suits her. She's the only skater I've ever seen who truly skates to the beat of the music in her performances, and this routine is a prime example of that.
I still can't bring myself to watch the performance. I watch the short program and leave it at that. I remember she was on Charlie Rose a couple of months after the Olympics and he asked if she'd watched the performance and she said something like, "No, I was there. I remember what happened." I think the most disappointing part is not skating well.
So ironic, I was a 15 year old jock that watched this back in 88. I can't forget it 30 years later. But can anyone actually remember the competition skates? Who won? etc. Nope. But yet we can't forget DT flawless skate to GM. Thanks for posting this.
@@figureskatingcommentator9162 No they don't we did to like Witt. She was always somewhere smiling like a cat. Made me sick to watch her. Debbie had more talent but studied for her medical exams and did not practice enough.
Like everyone else here, I too associate this song with Debi, although I always picture her in the black sparkly bodysuit... other eleven year old girls I knew wanted to be Madonna, or She-Ra... I wanted to be Debi Thomas, and seeing this performance again after all these years brings it all back. Many thanks for posting:')
Absolutely perfect performance and music, simple and languid. But why on earth did the people at the rink feel it was necessary to TALK at the beginning and end of Debi's performance? They just couldn't keep their mouths shut. Hearing George Michaels' "Just One More Try", again in 2019, brings back the day I opened the newspaper and saw his photo on the front page with the word "DEATH" below it. Such a tragic loss of a controversial hero with an impossible voice. I'm a senior citizen, now, and it still haunts me to this day. We're still young people inside even though we look old, and we've been there when these things were new. I'm just remembering the past as I'm sure others on here are doing and some others will be doing in 30 years, wishing we were young again. RIP George Michael. :-( DBB
She did so poorly during the scored skates, dashing the high expectations of everyone...then, shortly before the closing of the games, came out and gave this flawless performance for the unscored exhibitions. She skated to the song "One More Try".....
I wish Debi would have kept this program and developed it further in her pro career. Such a talent to be able to put together a program basically on the spot and skate it this well. I bet she would have been very successful at those "Improv-Ice" shows/competitions in the late 1990s/early 2000s!
Debbie used to drive me crazy. She could have easily beaten the German girl but she was so busy trying to study to be a doctor that she faltered. I was in tears. Then she dropped out and hooked up with some white dude and become broke living in a van down by the river. Oh my god, I was crushed. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were dirty I just could not believe it.
