Elizabeth Ann Manley, CM (born August 7, 1965) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

former competitive

figure skater 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, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. She is the 1988 Olympic silver medallist, the 1988 World silver medalist and a three-time

Canadian national The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

champion.

Early life and training

Manley was born in 1965 in Trenton,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, the fourth child and only daughter in her family. Her father's military career necessitated occasionally moving, and when Manley was nine years old, her family moved from Trenton to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. After her parents' divorce in the 1970s, she was raised by her mother, Joan.

Competitive career

Manley began skating at an early age. Her mother invested time and money in her daughter's figure skating career. Manley won the bronze medal at the 1982 World Junior Championships in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, Germany. Later that season, she competed at her first senior

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and finished 13th in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. In the 1982–83 season, Manley relocated from Ottawa to

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

to receive more intensive training but became depressed and homesick, which resulted in her hair falling out and weight gain. She finished off the podium at the

Canadian Championships Canadian Championships refers to a number of national-level competition in Canada. It may refer to: * Canadian Championship, a soccer tournament * Canadian Figure Skating Championships * Canadian Professional Figure Skating Championships * Canadi ...

and briefly dropped out of the sport, but resumed her skating career after

Peter Dunfield Peter Dunfield (c. 1931 – May 25, 2014) was a Canadian figure skater and coach. He competed in four skating, winning the 1949 North American silver medal, and single skating. He is best known for coaching Elizabeth Manley to the 1988 Olympi ...

and Sonya Dunfield agreed to coach her in Ontario. They worked with her at the Gloucester Skating Club in

Orleans, Ontario Orleans (; French: ; officially and in French OrléansThe suburb is called ''Orléans'' (with an accent) in French, but is commonly called ''Orleans'' (no accent) in English. The official name in English was changed from ''Orleans'' to ''Orléa ...

. Manley competed at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

, placing 13th, and the World Championships between 1984 and 1987. At the 1987 Worlds, she was in a position to vie for the world title after

compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

and the short program, but a poor result in the long program left her in fourth place overall in the competition. Entering the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

, few skating know-hows and media analysts considered Manley to be a contender for an Olympic medal. Battling illness, she nevertheless did well in

and the short program. Heading into the long program, she was in third place behind the East German skater

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 "she is remembered most for h ...

and the American skater

Debi Thomas Debra Janine Thomas (born March 25, 1967) is an American former figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World Figure Skating Championships, 1986 World champion, the Figure skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics, 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, an ...

. Witt and Thomas were both favourites for the gold medal, and the media had dubbed their rivalry as the "

Battle of the Carmens The Battle of the Carmens is an informal name given to a figure skating rivalry between East German Katarina Witt and American Debi Thomas during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The competition is so named because both Witt and Thomas independ ...

", as both women chose to skate to music from the 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 Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''. Witt skated her long program cleanly but conservatively, and Thomas fell apart in her long program. Elizabeth Manley, however, gave the performance of her career, one so widely recognized as a very special performance that announcer Jim McKay said, "Wouldn't it be great if every human being could have a moment like this once in their lives?" Manley won the long program and came within a fraction of a point of beating Witt for the Olympic title. Her come-from-behind placement made her a national celebrity in Canada. After winning the silver medal at the 1988 World Championships, Manley retired from amateur skating.

Later career

Manley performed in ice shows and television specials, and competed in professional events, for a number of years afterwards, being notable for her unusually imaginative programs. She now works as a figure skating coach and occasional media commentator. In 1988, she was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 1990, Manley published an autobiography: ''Thumbs Up!''; a second volume of autobiography, ''As I Am: My Life After the Olympics'', followed in 1999. In September 1990, radio personality The Real Darren Stevens launched a radio stunt, admitting that he suffered from a rare affliction: he was a Canadian who couldn't skate. While on the air, he openly "stalked" fellow Ottawa native Manley and begged her to teach him how to skate. Finally, after several months, Manley replied in January 1991, put skates on Stevens, and taught him how to skate. Manley starred as Red Riding Hood in CBC's 1992 television film ''The Trial of Red Riding Hood'' which premiered on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

two years later. In 2014, she was inducted into the

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

Personal life

Manley married televsion producer David N. Rosen in June 2019

. Manley is a spokesperson for

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

issues due to her own battle with depression, which began before the 1984 Olympics. As of 2009,she is also an official spokesperson for Ovarian Cancer Canada's Winners Walk of Hope. Her mother died from ovarian cancer in July 2008 and her father died of Alzheimer's disease in 2010. She is also spokesperson for Herbal Magic weight loss.

Results

References