FIGURING ON SUCCESS : For Debi Thomas, Olympics Give Way to New Challenges

Figures have always played an integral part in Debi Thomas’ life.

As a biology major at Stanford, she uses mathematical figures to solve calculus equations. As a former world champion figure skater, she etched compulsory figures that judges examined for perfection.

And now, salary and attendance figures are the focus of Thomas’ attention. Tonight, she makes her debut as a star attraction for “Benson & Hedges On Ice” at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Six months after her final amateur performance at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Thomas remembers her Olympic experience and how she fell to earth with dignity and grace.

At the Saddledome in Calgary, site of the Winter Olympics in February, Americans watched transfixed as the athletic Thomas skated against East Germany’s artistic Katarina Witt.

But in the opening seconds, the performance of Thomas’ life took on a life of its own. She fell on her opening triple-jump combination and from there, her routine was devalued from gold to bronze.

“I just thought, if I don’t get this over, I’m going to go crazy,” she said. “I had to skate last, and I was exhausted. Instead of trying to stay up and all, it was like, I went out and the first jump combo didn’t go right, and the program of my life went down the tubes.”

Hearts across America broke, but Thomas remained brave and said that crying over spills on skates wasn’t the answer.

“I didn’t have any problem with what happened,” Thomas said. “I never cried. I mean, what good would crying do? It just wasn’t my day.”

Thomas explained that in the week leading up to her performance, she was uneasy, unfocused and fast becoming undone.

“I know why it wasn’t right,” she said. “I never got to see anything. I think I saw one hockey game the whole time. I didn’t do things like that. Those things could have made me focus.”

Thomas was sequestered in the Olympic rink, unable to get into the spirit of the games.

“I’m Debi Thomas, not a robot,” she said. “I ended up being a robot. I was skating and skating and skating. You think (the gold’s) going to happen because you’ve been doing it all week long. Well, it’s not. Here it was, the performance of my life . . . I had wanted it too bad.”

When it finally came her turn to skate, Thomas was a mess.

“It just wasn’t the right time,” she said. “I still remember the feeling. I was not together, I was a zombie.”

Thomas doesn’t feel that she wasted years and years of training with her bronze-medal finish, which she duplicated at World Championships.

“It wasn’t like I missed out on anything,” she said. “I’m ahead of the game. I’m only 21, and I’ve made a name for myself. (Skating has) made me grow up fast.”

Before she was off the ice, Thomas apologized to coach Alex McGowan, then sat down and in four simple words--”Well, back to school,”--expressed what has separated Debi Thomas from the rest of the ice cadets.

She returns to Stanford to resume classes on Wednesday and said that if nothing goes wrong, she’ll graduate in 2 1/2 years.

“I really need to be on my toes,” she said. “That means I’ll graduate then in (a total of) 4 1/2 years, which isn’t too bad. I mean, I wanted to graduate in four years so much, then I realized that even normal people take longer than that now.”

In addition to her class load, Thomas will complete this five-city Benson & Hedges tour and another ice show, “Stars on Ice,” which begins Oct. 14 in Denver.

Thomas thinks star-studded shows will make professional skating more attractive to fans who want see the best.

“People want to see quality skaters,” Thomas said. “They come to see the stars.”

Two or three years ago, Thomas said she thought she would have missed competitive skating, but not now. “I’ve definitely done enough competition,” she said.

And while competition is challenging, ice shows demand their own discipline.

“You don’t have to train six hours a day,” Thomas said. “Here, the programs are all different, you have props, spotlights--it’s difficult, but in a different way.”

Thomas admitted she’s a bit nervous about performing to live music, “I hope the orchestra’s not too fast,” she said. Her routines include an energetic chorus-line medley, and an ethereal piece from the ballet “Spartacus.”

The future holds the probable distinctions of doctor and owner; she wants to be an orthopedic surgeon and own a training center for skaters.

In 10 years, she hopes to be “doing something amazing with sports medicine,” Thomas said. And by then, she hopes, her training center should be open to skaters and other athletes.

“Originally, I wanted it skating only,” she said. “I see what I would have wanted to have when I was training. Something similar to the (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Olympic Training Center, only more organized.”

She tilts her head back, rolls her eyes and says she has revised her original plan on being a coach and a surgeon at the same time. “There’s just no way.”

Thomas has her own ideas about the treatment of student/athletes and would like to work with teachers for the athletes’ benefit.

“I’d like to work with schools and let the teachers know they’re special,” she said, “but don’t treat them like that.”

She doesn’t think that skaters’ should put their education as priority behind skating.

“I hate to see kids waste themselves. The discipline of school helps you (in skating). I know it’s possible to be a world champion and be in school at the same time because I’ve done it.”

One thing that does confuse Thomas is why companies haven’t been pounding down her door to sign her for endorsements.

“I don’t know, my manager is more into selling up tours and all that, I guess. A lot of companies are trying to stay away from athletes. Being an Olympic year, I don’t really understand it, but, whatever.”

Thomas’ life has taken a dramatic turn in another direction. Her marriage to Brian Van den Hogen, 23, came in a private ceremony after the Olympics. “Some people were hurt, but we couldn’t tell anyone,” she said. Thomas and Van den Hogen had a ceremony for friends and family in Flagstaff Mountain, Colo., on July 24.

Thomas recalled the reaction of the media when she announced her marriage. After all, she wore her engagement ring in Olympic competition, and no one noticed it.

“It was pretty funny,” Thomas said. “I had my ring on all week and some of these reporters from papers and television are all, ‘No way, you had that ring on all week? My editor’s going to kill me.’ ”

Marriage agrees with her.

“I never thought married life could be so wonderful,” she said. “I’ve been out with 50 million other people, but I met Brian, and we went out a week, and I knew this was it.”

And who can argue? She’s spent a lifetime figuring it out.