Debi Thomas finished 4th in the long program segment of the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships, dropping her from 2nd to 3rd overal, winning the bronze medal. This was her last eligible competition.
CBS begins its live broadcast of the ladies' long program at the 1987 World Championships with fluff profile pieces of Katarina Witt and Debi Thomas, who were in 2nd and 3rd place respectively heading into the long program.
Jill Trenary was in tough having to follow up Midori Ito after Midori scored 5 6.0s in her long program at the 1989 World Championships. She was effectively competing for silver with Claudia Leistner.
Showing that you can skate to just about anything, Katarina Witt selects the "Muppet Show" theme as her music for the short program at the 1981 World Championships in Hartford.
Caryn Kadavy lost a split decision to Debi Thomas for the silver medal at the 1987 World Championships. Nonetheless, she moved up from 5th place with this performance, winning the bronze medal.
Katarina Witt debuts her Broadway Medley long program at the 1983 Skate Canada competition. Of note in this program, she is still attemping the triple flip jump, but would later omit the attempt by the time of the Olympics and World Championships
Debi Thomas debuts her version of Carmen at the 1987 Skate Canada International competition at the Calgary Saddledome. It was a preview of the Olympic ice rink she'd compete at 3 months later.
Katarina Witt found herself in a deficit after placing 5th in the compulsory figures at the 1987 World Championships. This short program helped her cause, winning the segment and moving up to 2nd overall.
Emi Watanabe would finish 2nd in the short program and 3rd in this long program at the 1980 World Championships in Dortmund, but would up 4th overall due to a 6th place in compulsory figures. This would be Emi's last eligible competition.
Debi Thomas was in good position to repeat as World Champion after finishing 2nd in figures, and Katarina Witt finishing 5th. Unfortunately, this short program dropped her to 3rd overall.
Claudia Leistner won the silver medal at the 1989 World Championships after this long program placed 2nd in the segment. She placed 1st in Compulsory Figures and 3rd in the short program (had she placed 2nd in the short program, she would won the gold over Midori Ito).
Tonia Kwiatkowski finishes with the silver medal behind Michelle Kwan at the 1996 United States Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California after this long program.
Liz Manley would finish second to Debi Thomas at the 1987 Skate Canada International in Calgary with this long program. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that while the music is the same, the choreography is markedly different from what she would eventually use later in the season at nationals, Olympics and Worlds.
Tonya Harding finishes 2nd overall to Midori Ito at the 1990 NHK Trophy. Notice that the costume and the construction of the program (footwork and jump selection) is somewhat different from what she would do later in the year at 1991 US Nationals and Worlds.
Evelyn Grossmann moved up to 8th place overall with this long program from the 1990 World Championships. With the reunification of East and West Germany, this would actually be Evelyn's last appearance at a World Championship (although she would compete at the 1991 European Championships as defending champion).
Jill Trenary only needed to finish 2nd to Midori Ito in the long program to secure the 1990 World Championship Title. She received 2nd place ordinals from all 9 judges for her performance.
Jill Trenary moved to 1st overall at the 1989 Worlds after her combined 2nd in compulsory figures and 2nd in the short program. Of note, she would keep this same short program for the 1989-90 season.
After placing 4th in the compuslory figures, Tonya Harding moves up to 2nd overall at the 1989 US Figure Skating Championships after this original program placed 3rd in the segment (behind Trenary and Yamaguchi).
Debi Thomas would win the short program over Katarina Witt at the 1988 World Figure Skating Championships, placing her into 2nd place overall heading into the long program.
Tonya Harding skates in the first group but is still rewarded with second place in the short program segment at the 1991 World Championships in Munich.
Karen Preston ended up finishing as the top Canadian in the ladies event at the 1992 Albertville Olympics after this long program moved her up from 12th to 8th. Since Elizabeth's silver in 1988, this would remain as the top Canadian finish at the Olympics until Jennifer Robinson finished 7th in 2002.
Jill Trenary is profiled by CBS before her long program at the 1990 World Championships. At the point, she was in 3rd place heading into the free skate after a 5th place in the original program.
