The Battle of the Carmens is an informal name given to a

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

rivalry and "media-fed battle" between East German

Katarina Witt Katarina Witt (, ; born 3 December 1965) is a German former figure skater. A two-time Olympic champion, Witt is regarded as one of the greatest ladies' singles figure skaters of all time. Her Laureus profile states that "she is remembered mos ...

and American

Debi Thomas Debra Janine Thomas (born March 25, 1967) is an American figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion. Her rivalry with East Germany's Katarina Witt at the ...

during the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. The competition is so named because both Witt and Thomas independently elected to skate to the music of

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

's opera ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' in their respective long programs. Both skaters had performed very well at the 1987

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

(Witt won, with Thomas placing a close second), so it was expected that the duel for Olympic gold in 1988 would constitute a showdown between these two women. The Battle of the Carmens was one of two such "battles" at the 1988 Winter Olympics, the other being the "

Battle of the Brians The Battle of the Brians was an informal name given by the press to the figure skating rivalry between Canadian Brian Orser and American Brian Boitano at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. This competition is considered one of the most memorabl ...

." Heading into the long program, which was worth 50% of the total score, Thomas was in first place (she placed second in compulsory figures and second in the short program) and Witt was in second place (she placed third in compulsory figures and first in the short program). However, both Thomas and Witt had underwhelming free skates. Despite omitting one of the more challenging jumps in her already technically inferior program, Witt skated well enough for the gold, but Thomas made significant mistakes in three of her planned jumps, bobbling her opening combination jump and falling on jump later on in the program, and came in third place overall. As figure skating historian James R. Hines reported, Wiit "presented a dramatic presentation of the seductive Carmen" from the judges and earned a high score, including seven 5.9s. Hines also said that Thomas, who skated last, was "not at her best" and that her nonliteral interpretation of Carmen did not have the same dramatic portrayal as Witt's version of Carmen.

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Elizabeth Manley Elizabeth Ann Manley, CM (born August 7, 1965) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1988 Olympic silver medallist, the 1988 World silver medalist and a three-time Canadian national champion. Early life and training Manley ...

won the silver medal over Thomas.Hines, p. 34 The only standing ovations given were to Elizabeth Manley and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

skater

Midori Ito is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 1989 World champion and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist. She is the first woman to land a triple Axel in competition. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, she became the first woman to land seven t ...

, both of whom skated clean long programs which were more technically difficult than either Witt's or Thomas's long programs.

References

*TSN
1988 Olympic highlights
*The Times

Carmen Sports rivalries 1988 in figure skating Figure skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics Figure skating in East Germany Figure skating in the United States {{Olympics-stub

See also

References