Peggy Fleming

American figure skater who won the United States' only gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics, credited with reviving American figure skating after a tragic team plane crash.

Peggy Gale Fleming was born on 27 July 1948 in San Jose, California, and began skating at age nine. Her career took on deep significance following the 1961 Sabena plane crash that killed the entire U.S. figure skating team, including her own coach, en route to the World Championships, effectively wiping out a generation of American skaters. Fleming won five consecutive U.S. national championships from 1964 to 1968 and, training under coach Carlo Fassi in Colorado, won three straight World Championship titles from 1966 to 1968. At the 1968 Grenoble Olympics, wearing a chartreuse costume made by her mother, she built an almost insurmountable lead in the compulsory figures and won the free skate with all nine judges' first-place votes, delivering the only U.S. gold medal of the entire Games. Fleming turned professional immediately after her Olympic win, touring with Ice Capades and other shows, and became a pioneering figure skating television commentator for ABC Sports for over two decades. She survived a battle with breast cancer beginning in 1998 and became a prominent advocate for early detection, later launching the Peggy Fleming Trophy artistic skating competition in 2018.

Graceful, artistically elegant skater emphasizing musicality, upright carriage and classical lines over pure jump difficulty

Credited with restoring American figure skating's global standing and launching the sport into the television age with her elegant, artistic style

• 1968 Olympic Gold Medal
• 3x World Champion (1966-1968)
• 5x U.S. National Champion (1964-1968)
• 2018 named to a commemorative statue and skating competition trophy