Debi Thomas Ready for TV Pro Debut

Olympic bronze medalist Debi Thomas, who makes her TV debut Thursday as a professional skater in “The Ice Capades With Kirk Cameron” (ABC-TV, 8 p.m.), doesn’t train as much as she used to as an amateur, but the pressure’s no less intense.

“Once you turn pro there’s more of a fear of falling than when you’re an amateur,” Thomas says. “At least then (as an amateur) you know you tried hard stuff.”

On tour since late September with the “Stars on Ice” and “Benson and Hedges on Ice” shows, the 21-year-old Thomas skated in her first professional competitions this month, winning the World Professional Figure Skating Championships and placing third in the Challenge of Champions--all while still in the midst of Stanford University finals. Thomas’ amateur skating accomplishments include two national titles and the 1986 World Championship.

“I’ve found that I don’t lose my jumps or anything (with lack of intensive training),” Thomas says. “I’m still doing triples, but just not tough combinations.” She finds professional skating to be “very high quality” but also “really difficult” because of the spotlights, props and costumes involved.

While Thomas jokes about her lack of preparation for professional events--her on-ice training time has dropped from six hours per day to three hours per week--she seems just a bit wary of repeating her disappointing Olympic performance, which included three botched jumps.

A sophomore biology student who hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon and run a training center for young skaters, Thomas manages to balance her heavy class load (she’s carrying 19 units; 12 are considered full time) with her professional skating role and her relatively new role as wife to University of Colorado student Brian Vanden Hogen.

“I knew this would be the hardest quarter of my life,” she says.