#tai babilonia

[dozydawn]

“Figure skaters Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner try their hands at roller skating.”

Photographed by Tony Duffy, 1979.

[whatsabriard]

Hart to Hart 5x16 - Silent Dance

A young figure skater's dreams of Olympic gold will be shattered unless the Harts can mix modern technology with the astounding talent of skater Tai Babilonia.

[jodilin65]

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1990 I haven’t written in a while which I sometimes don’t. Last thing I see I wrote about was getting my hair trimmed. Linda trimmed my bangs and my top layer. My top layer was and still is pretty much fried with split ends. I have split ends everywhere. She was shocked at the weight I lost and how long my hair’s gotten. I haven’t seen her in 3 years or so. Linda hasn’t seen me at my skinniest though since I’ve gained 8 pounds. Funny thing is that it looks like I gained double, like 16 pounds. Of course, that’s cuz I’m so short. I no longer despise being short as I’ve realized the many advantages of being short as I’ve gotten older.

Andy’s here now asleep. He came over two nights ago, too. We made some calls this time. Last night we played Crazy 8’s which we haven’t done since we were kids at the beach. Also, we played the piano.

I’ll write later as I’m exhausted. For the last two months or so I’ve been sleeping at night, but I was up all night cuz I slept too many hours yesterday.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990 I am waiting to have my hair trimmed at Hair Performance by Linda. My top layer is incredibly fried. Also, I need my bangs trimmed.

Brenda’s very sick today so I’m going to be going to Martha by bus and it is incredibly freezing out!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1990 Well, I’m not going to be sleeping for a hell of a long time. I never got up yesterday till 9pm. I had woken up in the early afternoon but felt like shit so I went back to sleep. Not too much has happened since I last wrote. I’ve done some pretty nice drawings, been pissed at Russ cuz he’s got the heat off from 11pm–6am, been a little depressed cooped up at home and wanting to sing. Lastly, been frustrated and scared over my bronchitis.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1990 I fell asleep shortly after 11 PM, after seeing the Tai Babilonia story, then at 1:45, I woke up for no reason at all. At least I didn’t wake up cuz of an asthma attack like I did yesterday morning and several previous mornings. I feel much better now and for the last 5 days, I’ve had 4-6 ciggies.

Soon I’m going to try to go back to sleep so I can join Andy on job-hunting trips. Not a job for me, for him of course, but it’ll get me out of the apt.

I’d like to sleep with Shadow, but he keeps waking me up.

I had a great visit with Tammy and the kids, and also a great day with Brenda. Sarah’s adorable and she’s got so much hair on her head. Everyone in the family was born with lots of hair.

John came over for a half-hour tonight and met Brenda and Bill.

Oh, I wish I knew my test scores! I want so badly to go to the academy. I suppose, though, I won’t be going for whatever reason cuz I want to go badly. Of course, that is until I can get anything going musically.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1990 Yesterday was awful. I was so pissed at Russ. For the last 5 mornings, during the wee hours of the morning, it was freezing. Later on between 7:00-11:00, it would turn into a sauna. I woke up for two reasons. One was the fucking radiator in the kitchen would clank so loud, you could probably hear it downtown. The other is that I’d have major asthma attacks due to it. It would get so hot in here that my windows would be wet. I yelled on Russ’s machine, asking what it’s gonna take for the heat to be evened out and he stopped up to adjust the thermostat. If this happens continuously, I’ll make partial rent payments and if he fights it he’ll wish partial rent problems were the only problems he’s had with me. Otherwise, he’s a nice guy and the best landlord I’ve ever had. He doesn’t do this deliberately, he just has no brains when it comes to heating.

Today, later on, I’m definitely gonna get the fuck outa this apartment. Where to, I do not know, but I’ve got to get out.

[vickiabelson]

How fun to sit down with a young old friend and catch up after a long pandemic pause. Olympian, Tai Babilonia, is as beautiful, luminescent, gracious, inspiring, perseverant, focused, and fun as she ever was. The World Figure Skating Champion, and 5x U.S. Figure Skating Champion, was as fearless in retelling milestones in her life as she was living them. From great triumphs to heartbreaks, big and small, Tai’s acceptance of her lot, no matter what, no doubt helped carry her from one victory to the next. Her gratitude for her good fortune, her love, and respect for her parents, her brother, and her son are admirable and enviable.

We talked about Tai’s journey on the ice––thank God for Mabel Fairbanks who took a very young Tai and forced her hand into Randy Gardners––beautiful story there bookmarked with the pages being written with loving care, overseen by Tai and Randy to honor her. From the ’76 Olympics to the 5 US Championships, to being only the 2nd Americans to win the World Championship, to the nightmare that ended their Olympic dreams in ’80, starring in the Ice Capades and working feverishly in the years following… the toll it took, the drinking, the bottom, sobriety, back out there, more drinking, her marriage, her beloved son, her engagement to David Brenner, insights there into her and him, two stories - Bill Cosby and Chris Botti, and the strength in her sobriety that stuck, a show at the forum that led to coaching Jack Nicholson’s daughter and then Denzel’s. No name dropper she, this is all just part of her glamorous story. There’s so much humanity, and hard truth here to balance it. 

Conversing with Tai feels like coming home… comfortable, effortless, warm, and affectionate. I loved every second.

Tai Babilonia Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wednesday, 12/21/22, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Streamed Live on my Facebook Replay here: https://bit.ly/3FQm7Tk

[lboogie1906]

Mabel Fairbanks (November 14, 1915 – September 29, 2001) was a figure skater and coach. She paved the way for other minorities to compete in the sport of figure skating. She was inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, as the first person of African American and Native American descent, and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. She was born in Florida's Everglades. Her father was African American while her mother was a Native American of English descent. She was orphaned at the age of eight. After staying with a teacher who treated her like a "maid," she joined one of her brothers in New York City. A wealthy woman saw her sleeping on a park bench and offered her a job as a babysitter. She began figure skating around 1925 to 1928. After observing children at the Central Park ice rink, she bought herself used skates, stuffed them with cotton because they were two sizes too big, and began skating at the rink. She said, "Blacks didn't skate there. But it was a public place, so I just carried on." She gained further inspiration after seeing Sonja Henie in One in a Million. She was denied access to the local rink by the cashier but she kept returning until the manager admitted her. Maribel Vinson Owen and Howard Nicholson provided her with technical advice. She was not allowed to compete in the national qualifying event for the Olympics or any competition. She performed in shows in New York. She wore pink or purple skate boots rather than the more common black or white ones. She practiced on a 6 ft by 6 ft rink constructed in her room. After relocating to Los Angeles, she toured internationally, skating with Ice Capades in Mexico and with Ice Follies. After returning to the US, she saw a sign with "Colored Trade Not Solicited" at the Pasadena Winter Gardens. She coached singles and pairs, including Tiffany Chin, Billy Chapel, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi / Rudy Galindo, Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner, Leslie Robinson, Michelle McCladdie, Richard Ewell, Debi Thomas, Atoy Wilson, and Jean Yuna. She taught skating to the children of many celebrities. She was never married. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck8Jnd6LMjj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[goodblacknews]

GBN's Daily Drop: Figure Skating Pioneer Mabel Fairbanks (LISTEN)

GBN’s Daily Drop: Figure Skating Pioneer Mabel Fairbanks (LISTEN)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson) Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is based on the Monday, March 7 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 about Mabel Fairbanks, a figure skater who was denied the opportunity to compete for the U.S. because of her skin color but found other ways to dedicate herself to the sport and became a coach to future national and…

[polishedjellyfish]

Christine Brennan Jan 27, 2020

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Last March, the U.S. Center for SafeSport delivered a chilling assessment of sexual abuse in the sport of figure skating, saying it discovered “a culture in figure skating that allowed grooming and abuse to go unchecked for too long.” Despite a series of high-profile allegations of sexual abuse in the intervening months, U.S. Figure Skating executive director David Raith told USA TODAY Sports Thursday afternoon, “We don’t agree with their statement.”

“As an athlete who spoke with the executive director face-to-face about my own story, I am surprised to hear that he does not agree with SafeSport’s assessment that there is a problem,” Wagner said in a text message Friday. “It would also be surprising if he believes he is better equipped to make that assessment than an independent body dedicated to preventing this exact situation. Denying or ignoring the elephant in the room is not enough to save the sport I love.” 

“I am frustrated and disappointed that U.S. Figure Skating can’t or won’t acknowledge the systemic problems that led to this conclusion from SafeSport,” she said. “Skating has a history of fostering and creating power imbalances that thrive in dark corners, and to believe that all of these cases are unrelated to the culture of figure skating is either grossly naïve or absolutely negligent.”

While rejecting SafeSport’s assessment of skating’s culture, David Raith would not offer his own characterization. “We look at it as a societal issue,” he said. “It’s not just us. It’s every sport....We’re doing everything we can to help educate.......But we’re trying to do everything we can. For me, the No. 1 thing is that you support survivors and you believe in survivors.”

”If there wasn't a problem, there would not be any of these stories,” Adam Rippon, 2016 national champion and 2018 Olympic team bronze medalist, said in an interview during nationals, which he attended as a coach for 2020 national silver medalist Mariah Bell.

“I think there's a bit of denial and there's a bit of shame, like how could this happen in our home when we think that we know what's going on?” Rippon said. “I think there's a bit of sadness because we don't want that, we don't want that here. In the last year, we've seen a lot of stories and people haven't really known how to deal with these situations. We should know how to deal with them.”

Tai Babilonia, [pairs] five-time national champion, 1979 world champion and two-time Olympian.....said in a phone interview that USFS’s denial of a cultural problem was concerning. “What are they afraid of? Just make it better. Just own that there’s a problem and try to make it better. Here we go again, roll our eyes and it’s swept under the rug,” she said.

Bill Fauver, [pairs] a longtime coach and two-time Olympian.....said SafeSport’s assessment of the USFS culture was “stating the obvious.” “What U.S. Figure Skating is doing is only what is mandated,” he said. “They are not taking any unique or bold steps to address the situation. It is simply not going to go away by wishful thinking.”

[justseventeen]

February 1980. 'Terrific is the word for figure skater Tai Babilonia and her partner Randy Gardner who will compete for the Olympic gold medal in pairs at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, NY...'

[myfigureskatingcollection]

Autographed “Tai’s Skating Coloring Book” by Tai Babilonia

[allekha]

Figure skating in colors: soothing blue

Featuring:

Zahra Lari (2017 FMBA Trophy SP)

Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner ('Over the Rainbow' EX)

Nikita Starostin (2021 Finlandia Trophy SP)

Yuzuru Hanyu ('The Final Time Traveler' EX)

Janet Lynn (1970 Worlds FS)

Midori Ito (2018 'Scheherazade' EX)

Satoko Miyahara (2017 JPNats FS)

Ekaterina Kurakova (2022 Euros FS)

Kazuki Tomono (2021 Rostelecom SP)

[lecho]

Celebrating Black History Month: Mabel Fairbanks – First African American Inducted into U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame

Mabel Fairbanks was born in Jacksonville, Florida in the early 1920s. Life there was subjugated by abject poverty, bigotry, and Jim Crow laws. In the early 1930s, there was a great migration north in which Fairbanks’ brothers and sisters moved to New York City. She herself followed along. There, at an early age, she was drawn to the sport of figure skating. During the cold winters of the city, she would curiously watch from afar the twirling and gliding skaters in Central Park. But it was after seeing Sonja Henie’s movie “One In A Million” that she was determined to learn to skate. She took herself to the north end of Harlem with a pair of used, oversize skates, and on small frozen ponds and rivulets, she started to teach herself to skate. In her continued desire to practice her skills on ice, she ventured out into the city to find a proper ice rink facility. Time after time she was denied entrance to skate at many of the city’s coveted rinks because of her color, but she did not let that deter her.

The manager of the Gay Blades Ice Rink on West 52nd St. noted her persistence and finally let her in, only to request that she could only skate the last 30 minutes of the evening session. As a result, with her enthusiasm and dazzling spirit she caught the eye of the legendary 9 time U.S. Ladies Champion, Maribel Vinson Owen, who helped refine Fairbanks’ skating technique with tips and pointers. Fairbanks was finally shattering the race barrier in the city. Because she was not allowed to compete due to race and bigotry of the skating community in the city, Owen encouraged her to create her own shows and events. Taking that suggestion to heart, she soon was producing her own shows at the Gay Blades Ice Rink after their closing hours, as well shows in the Supper Clubs, the Apollo Theatre, and other social venues in and around Harlem. In the late 40s Fairbanks left the east coast for California. She quickly gained fame and respect first becoming the coach of the children of Hollywood’s elite — Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Ozzie and Harriet’s Ricky Nelson, and Otto Preminger. She made guest appearances on the popular KTLA TV show “Frosty Frolics.” But eventually her deep desire was to become the coach of young competitive skaters of all races with her primary focus in helping nurture and support African American figure skaters.

The list of some of those talented students includes: Atoy Wilson, Richard Ewell and Michelle McCladdie, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Bobby Beauchamp, Leslie Robinson, and many others. Along with inspiring, mentoring, and knowing champions — Peggy Fleming, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Rudy Galindo and Debi Thomas — her coaching style helped her students to become not only great champions but also upstanding individuals. Even though she herself never stood on a podium as a champion, she took great pride and satisfaction in her students who did. And with that, her vision and goals were accomplished and fulfilled. Fairbanks coached until she was 79 years young. In 1997, Fairbanks was the first African American to be inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. In October of 2001 she was posthumously inducted into the Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame. Mabel Fairbanks quietly passed in Sept of 2001 in Burbank, California, leaving a bright legacy as a trailblazer and the Grand Dame of African American figure skaters.

Source: https://www.icetheatre.org/mabel-fairbanks-bio.html

[dozydawn]

Figure skaters Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, 1976. Photographed by Tony Duffy.

[figureskatingconfessions]

“Atoy Wilson. Bobby Beauchamp. Derrick Delmore. Franklyn Singley. Yannick Bonheur. Robin Szolkowy. Rohene Ward. Asher Hill. Elladj Baldé. Ryan Bradley. Emmanuel Savary. Antonio Souza Kordeiru. Noah Bodenstein. Darian Kaptich. #supportBlackskaters #diversify_ice” “Mabel Fairbanks. Rory Flack Burghart. Tai Babilonia. Debi Thomas. Tiffani Tucker. Surya Bonaly. Maé-Bérénice Meité. Vanessa James. Melyssa James. Nadjma Mahamoud. Starr Andrews. Clémence Mayindu. Noémie Bodenstein. #supportBlackskaters #diversify_ice”

[withthehomiies]

( diana silvers, demigirl, she/they, bisexual ) check it out, i totally just saw TAI FRAISER! some people say they remind them of TAI (CLUELESS), but that’s just hearsay. it could be because they are EARNEST but can also be a bit CLUMSY on a bad day. either way i heard the TWENTY year old is studying GRAPHIC DESIGN. if only they could stop playing ALRIGHT (SUPERGRASS) on repeat so they could actually focus, then their neighbors in BEVERLY HILLS might get some sleep. all i know is that they remind of of DOODLES ON NOTEBOOK MARGINS, OVERALLS WITH COLORFUL PATCHES, BOISTEROUS LAUGHTER and can be seen as THE EBULLIENT.

          ❝ what’s a monet ? ❞

name: tai frasier. age: 20. date of birth: may 23rd, 2000. hometown: edison, new jersey. current location: beverly hills, california. occupation: freelance artist. major: graphic design.

pinterest: xx. playlist: coming soon !

→ 𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪.

☁︎ tai grew up in new jersey, in a little suburban home with her parents and her two brothers ( one older , one younger ). things were simple. she enjoyed saturday morning cartoons, eating large bowls of sugary cereal, and spending time with her older brother theo. her entire childhood, he was her best friend. she thought he was the coolest person alive.

☁︎ she was never the brightest. she always struggled in school ; she just wasn’t able to focus. she would always sit in the back of the class and hope she wasn’t called on as she doodled in the margins of her notebooks. the only school subject she enjoyed ( and was actually good at ) was art.

☁︎ she was never the kind of person who liked to stand out — she’d rather fade into the background. popularity wasn’t something she strived for. instead, her friends were the burnouts, the slackers. the ones who cut class to smoke week under the bleachers. they got a lot of shit, but in reality they were just good kids with no motivation and too much time on their hands.

☁︎ being the middle child, tai didn’t get much attention from her parents, compared to her brothers. this was both good and bad. it meant that tai could pretty much do whatever she wanted without getting in trouble. she regularly snuck off late at night to go to rock shows and parties. she got a few tattoos. she tried everyone once.

☁︎ the year she turned 15 was an eventful one. her older brother graduated and moved out of the house. her parents announced they were splitting up. a few months later, tai and her younger brother, moved to beverly hills with their dad.

☁︎ tai stuck out like a sore thumb at bronson alcott high school. thankfully, cher horowitz and dionne davenport adopted her — they washed the bright red dye off her hair, they gave her a new wardrobe, and even expanded her vocabulary. in all honesty — the clothes weren’t really her style ( so, predictably, that didn’t stick ), but she did gain a lot of confidence she didn’t have before.

☁︎ by the end of her first year at bronson alcott, tai was dating travis birkenstock — a sweet guy who caught her eye on her very first day of school. at first, her new friends assured her he'd only drag her down. tai’s other romantic endeavors failed miserably, and ultimately, tai and travis found their way back to each other.

☁︎ senior year brought on a little new crisis — college applications. tai wasn’t sure if she even wanted to go to college ; she was never the best student, she didn’t want to spent another four years stuck in a classroom struggling to pay attention, and she couldn’t think of a subject she could study at a university level that she’d be good at, much less enjoy. it didn’t occur to her that she could pursue art seriously until one of her friends suggested it. and so she enrolled in ucla’s design & media arts program.

☁︎ she realized she could make a little money on the side by taking commissions, and working on little projects for other people. she started making stickers for fun and built up a little business from her bedroom. she has a decent follower count on tiktok and instagram, and it still blows her mind her that people want to see and support her art.

☁︎ at the moment, she’s living it up in her college dorm. she’s working towards her degree, but every so often she considers dropping out. she could just do freelance work and keep making stickers. but for now, she’s staying in school. she’s single now, and falls in love with someone new every other day.

→ 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 , 𝕖𝕥𝕔.

zodiac sign: gemini ☼ / aquarius ☾ / sagittarius ↗. personality type: isfp — the adventurer. enneagram: type 9 — the peacemaker. temperament: phlegmatic. moral alignment: chaotic good. element: air.

☁︎ she was named after figure skater tai babilonia !

☁︎ she can do a spot-on mickey mouse impression.

☁︎ she’s still the same bubbly, awkward, clumsy girl she’s always been. just a little bit more confident than she was at 15.

☁︎ she crushes on people very easily. especially if they have some cool talent, like if they skate or play an instrument.

☁︎ still loves a good rock show — if you’re her friend, she’ll try to convince you to head out to some seedy club just to catch a friend’s band. she loves a good party too, but she will need a ride home after.

☁︎ loves comic books, cartoons, and space. her favorite activity is getting stoned and discussing any of these three topics.

[vickiabelson]

Today, Live with the gorgeous, fabulous, crazy talented Olympian Tai Babilonia - World Figure Skating Champion, and 5x U.S. Figure Skating Champion. We'll discuss what it took to get there, her partnership with Randy Gardner, the toll it took on her body and her life, and how she’s thrived since. 

Tai’s story was chronicled in the  Movie of the Week, On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story, and she authored a book with Randy Gardner, entitled Forever Two As One. She has appeared in Skating With Celebrities, and co-hosted the television talk show, Ken Boxer Live.

This beauty is a sensational woman. I absolutely adore her and can't wait!

Tai Babilonia Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Wednesday, 12/21/22, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET

Streaming Live on my Facebook

Daily by Toni Vincent & @peter_and_paul_ Cartoons

#TaiBabilonia, #RandyGardner, #FigureSkatingChampion, #Champion, #Olympian, #Olympics, #WorldChampion, #Skating, #Skater, #FigureSkater,  #Sobriety, #DavidBrenner, #GameChangersWithVickiAbelson, #VickiAbelson, #GameChangers, #podcast, #inspirationalpodcast, #Celebrity,   #FacebookLive, #Talkshow #Chat #Live #pandemic, #comedy, #music,  #talk, #recap, #community, #caring, #sharing, #sharingiscaring, #streaminglive, #Live, #Streaming

[mixdgrlproblems]

Tai Babilonia is an #American pair skater & entrepreneur. She & #RandyGardner won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships & 5 US Figure Skating Championships. They qualified for the 1976 & 1980 Winter Olympics. Shes one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. When they won Worlds, they were the first Americans to do so in 29 years & no US pair since has won the title. They were favored to win Gold at the 1980 Olympics but had to withdraw due to a last minute injury to Randy. They still had a successful career in spite of, skating for 3 years as special guest stars with the #IceCapades, performing on numerous skating tours, countless tv specials & in the most prestigious venues worldwide, including a special appearance for Queen Elizabeth & White House guests of Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan & Clinton. A tv movie about her life debuted in 1990 & they were inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1991. They published a book called Forever Two As One. She even skated with Bruce Jenner on Skating With Celebrities. They retired in 2008. Shes designed skating attire, her own line of chocolates & a collection of one of a kind hand-made crystal jewelry boxes. Outspoken & honest about her struggles with alcoholism, eating disorders & a suicide attempt, shes an advocate/mentor for mental health & people struggling with addiction. “Don’t be afraid to reach out. There are many programs for all addictions & know that you are not alone” Shes the 1st figure skater of partial #AfricanAmerican descent to compete for the US at Olympics & win world titles. Shes also #Filipino & #Hopi #NativeAmerican. “They say Im the 1st black skater to win & I’ll go, no, do your homework. My Filipino dad would say, hey, don’t I count for any part of this? I’m #multiracial & proud of that” “I did see people look at my family with very confused looks on their faces. We definitely stood out among the predominately white skating crowd. Remember, this was the 70s & you didn’t see many #multiethnic families. People put me in whatever ethnic box they wanted. As I got older I understood the impact I had on future skaters of color.” 🇵🇭🇺🇸🏴 #aapiheritagemonth #aapi #mixedgirl https://www.instagram.com/p/CAYvD5pFtGr/?igshid=120hzf8aiz89s