Tai Reina Babilonia (born September 22, 1959) is an American former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. Together with Randy Gardner, she won the 1979

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ...

and five

U.S. Figure Skating Championships The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...

(1976–1980). The pair qualified for the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics.

Career

Babilonia and Gardner began skating together at eight and ten years old when skating coach

Mabel Fairbanks Mabel Fairbanks (November 14, 1915 – September 29, 2001) was an American figure skater and coach. As an African American and Native American woman she paved the way for other minorities to compete in the sport of figure skating such as Naomi L ...

needed a young pair team for a skating show in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

, California. Their coach from 1971 until 1980 was

John Nicks John Allen Wisden Nicks (born 22 April 1929) is a British figure skating coach and former pair skater. With his sister, Jennifer Nicks, he is the 1953 World champion. As a coach, his skating pupils have included Peggy Fleming, pairs team Tai B ...

. The pair became five-time U.S. national champions and won the gold medal at the 1979 World Championships. They were medal favorites at the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

but were forced to withdraw due to an injury to Gardner. Babilonia was the first figure skater of partial African American descent to compete for the United States at Olympics and win world titles. She is also part

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

on her father's side and part Native American. In 1990, a biographical film of her rise to fame was aired on television, ''On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story''. Babilonia appeared in the 2006

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television program '' Skating with Celebrities'', partnered with Olympic

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

gold medalist

Bruce Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic Games, Olympic Olympic medal, gold medal-winning Decathlon, decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland ...

. Babilonia and Gardner also appeared on an episode of ''

Hart to Hart ''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset lifes ...

'' "Silent Dance" (season 5 episode 16) in 1984.

Personal life

Babilonia was inspired at the age of six to begin ice skating after watching

Peggy Fleming Peggy Gale Fleming (born July 27, 1948) is an American former figure skater and the only American in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France to bring home a Gold Medal. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time W ...

on television. Babilonia has a son named Scout with former husband Cary Butler. She was engaged in 2005 to actor and comedian

David Brenner David Norris Brenner (February 4, 1936 – March 15, 2014) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author. The most frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in the 1970s and 1980s, Brenner "was a pioneer of observ ...

, but they never married before their breakup in 2011.

Competitive highlights

(with Gardner)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babilonia, Tai Reina American female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of the United States Figure skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics American sportspeople of Filipino descent Sportspeople from Ashland, Oregon 1959 births Living people Figure skaters from Los Angeles World Figure Skating Championships medalists 21st-century American women 20th-century American women