Debbi Wilkes (born December 16, 1946) is a Canadian former pair skater. With skating partner Guy Revell, she became a two-time Canadian national champion, the 1963 North American champion, and the 1964 Olympic silver medallist.

Personal life

Wilkes was born on December 16, 1946, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. She graduated from York University with an honors degree in psychology and then earned a master's degree in communications at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. She is currently married to Bruce McEwan.

Career

On the ice by the age of five, Wilkes took up pairs at age ten and skated with her first partner until he quit. She began skating with Guy Revell, six years her elder, in 1958 after meeting at the Unionville skating carnival. Though their height difference was adequate at the start of their partnership, by the time Wilkes was seventeen in 1963, her height was to Revell's . They were coached by Bruce Hyland at Crosby Arena and represented the Unionville Skating Club throughout their career. Wilkes fell from a lift while posing for press photographs prior to the 1963 World Championships, hitting the ice head-first and fracturing her skull. The pair had to withdraw from the competition. Wilkes/Revell were awarded the bronze medal at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, while gold went to Ludmila Belousova / Oleg Protopopov and silver to Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler. After taking the bronze at the 1964 World Championships in Dortmund, the pair parted ways — Wilkes decided to pursue an education while Revell elected to tour professionally in ice shows. In 1966, Wilkes/Revell were informed that the silver medallists in Innsbruck, Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler of Germany, had been disqualified after an International Olympic Committee investigation found they had signed pro contracts before the Olympics. IOC executive James Worrall presented Wilkes/Revell with the silver medals during the Canadian Championships in Peterborough, Ont. Later, Kilius/Baumler were reinstated in the record books, but the medals were never redistributed. In December 2013, after an investigation by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', the International Olympic Committee confirmed that Kilius/Bäumler and Wilkes/Revell share the 1964 Olympic silver medal and Joseph/Joseph of the United States are the bronze medallists. Despite the information on its website over the years, the IOC stated that this was intended to be the official result since 1987. After retiring from competition, Wilkes became a television skating analyst, an author, a coach, and Skate Canada's Director of Marketing and Sponsorship.

Results

(with Revell)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkes, Debbi 1946 births Living people Figure skaters from Toronto Canadian female pair skaters Canadian television sportscasters Olympic figure skaters for Canada Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Women sports commentators Figure skating commentators Olympic medalists in figure skating World Figure Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Canada Canadian women television personalities 20th-century Canadian sportswomen