History-making Olympic figure skater Debi Thomas reveals she’s broke, living in a trailer

OWN Network
OWN Network

You know her name. Debi Thomas first made history when she became the first African-American athlete to receive a medal at the Winter Olympics in 1988. A former student enrolled in Standford University’s engineering program, Thomas who later went on to get her medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, appeared to have a promising future ahead of her. But according to the now 48-year-old former athlete, her life looks a lot different now.


“(I feel) frustrated,” Thomas said during last night’s episode of “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” before revealing that her successes have faded and she now lives, twice-divorced and broke, in a bed bug-infested home with her fiancé and his sons in the Appalachian Mountains.


“You got to a point where you couldn’t afford to do anything other than live in a trailer. Is that what I’m hearing you say?” host Iyanla Vanzant asks before ripping into Thomas for only feeling “frustrated” at her crippling circumstances. “Not sad, not angry, not ashamed?” Vanzant continued. To which Thomas simply replied “no.”

“Not guilty that you’ve got a man, two kids and a bedbug infestation in a trailer,” Vanzant scoffed. “Frustration is what you feel? Nothing else?” — “This is what I know: You’re living in a trailer in the Appalachian Mountains and your son ain’t with you!” shouted Vanzant. “You’re raising somebody else’s children! So, you can tell me whatever you want to tell me. Telling yourself the truth is important.”


As for the trigger to her downfall, Thomas blames her Olympic success for the failure of her first marriage. She went on to allege that her personality clashes led to two job losses before she opened up a private practice in Virginia, which she had to close after just two years, having lost much of her “nest egg” in a second divorce.

To top it off, Thomas revealed she lost custody of her 13-year-old son. So, in an attempt to get back on her feet (and nab a reality show), the former figure skater launched a GoFundMe page about 10 months ago, which collected only $2K out of her $10K goal. “What we need now is help keeping our heads above water until we can make our dreams a reality,” Thomas pleaded in a video posted on the GoFundMe page. Sadly, it appears that few heard her call to action.

Unfortunately for Thomas, financial issues seem to be just one of many issues she’s facing, including taking responsibility for where she fell short in her marriages and motherhood. We get it; sh*t happens. But at what point do you look up and say, “I need to do better?”

What do you think of Thomas’ revelation? Sound off in the comment section below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join our Newsletter

Sign up for Rolling Out news straight to your inbox.

Read more about:
Also read