Tai Babilonia

Tai Reina Babilonia (born September 22, 1959) is an American former pair skater. Together with Randy Gardner, she won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships and five U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1976–1980). The pair qualified for the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics.She was the first African American figure skater to compete for the United States at an Olympics and win world titles. She is also part Filipino on her father's side and part Native American. She and Gardner began skating together at eight and ten years old when skating coach Mabel Fairbanks needed a young pair team for a skating show in Culver City, California. They began training with John Nicks in 1971. They won the gold medal as juniors at their first U.S. Nationals in 1973 and as seniors, they came in second place in 1974 and 1975. The pair became five-time U.S. National champions, between 1978 and 1980, and won the gold medal at the 1979 World Championships. They were medal favorites at the 1980 Winter Olympics but were forced to withdraw due to an injury to Gardner, which ended their competitive careers. She and Gardner toured with the Ice Capades for four years and with Champions on Ice for two years. ...