Today is Peggy Fleming's 60th birthday! Many people see Peggy as a figure skating commentator for over 20 years, a breast cancer survivor and owner of Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery, but I wonder how many young girls realize that she was a five-time (1964-1968) U.S. national champion, three-time (1966-1968) World champion, and an Olympic gold medalist? In fact, the only gold medalist for the United States at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
Peggy's signature was her grace and elegance on the ice, and at that time, those qualities were not commonly found in skaters or in their programs. Recently, Peggy was a presenter at the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame awards where she honored her former coach Carlo Fassi, who passed away in 1997. Fassi was honored posthumously in the Coach category and wife Christa accepted the award. (at right, Peggy arriving for ceremony) Today, Peggy is a grandmother(!) of three grandsons, has two sons, Andy (age 31) and Todd (age 20), and happily married for 38 years to her high school sweetheart, Greg Jenkins.
This morning I spent a few minutes revisiting her gold medal winning performance at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. Watch her double axel -- straight up and very high! Then watch her single axel into an outside spread eagle -- very original.
Yes, Peggy Fleming is the symbol of beauty and artistry on ice.
Posted by: ChuckD | July 28, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Thank you for your comment on my blog :)! I really enjoyed this post, I was one of the young girls (well not so young hahaha) that didn't know her as a skater, but now I do and she was amazing. Happy birthday Peggy!
Posted by: Vicky | July 28, 2008 at 04:19 PM