It’s Ada Lovelace Day and believe it or not, I have a post about women in the sciences.

The applied sciences, anyway. Here are some of my favorite performances by Debi Thomas, who skated at the Olympics while also pre-med at Stanford. She went on to become Dr. Debi Thomas, a surgeon.

First her 1986 Nationals free skate, which she choreographed herself. Her arms are a little stiff in the front half and she can’t hold her final jump, but once she loosens up she’s very elegant and playful. She won here.

Here’s the same program at 1986 Worlds, when she became world champion. Lots of tough and interesting jump entrances:

Her Carmen at Nationals. She had a tough time skating this clean, but the interpretation is really thoughtful, creating a complex character who shifts from youthful brightness and buoyancy to romantic longing, and then to violence and determination:

Her truly great, totally awesome ’80s short program at the Calgary Olympics:

And here is a performance by Wanda Beazel. I think we can all be grateful that she did not seek medical training:

Head over to Libresco’s for more posting about Ada Lovelace and her Day. She actually knows stuff about science.