NAMES IN THE NEWS : Skater Peggy Fleming Denies Romantic Link to Donald Trump

Ice skating star Peggy Fleming has denied published reports linking her romantically with real estate mogul Donald J. Trump.

She was so upset by the allegation that Fleming’s representatives began circulating character testimonials from the mayor of San Jose, who called her a “model citizen,” and the associate director of a county hospital.

Fleming, 41, convened a news conference Wednesday in the quiet suburban community where she lives with her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins, and two children.

She told the handful of invited reporters she is “outraged” at the suggestions, made after Trump announced a breakup from his wife, Ivana, that she had been involved with the billionaire deal maker.

“The rumor of my romantic association with Donald Trump is untrue, unfounded and outrageous,” she said in a written statement issued today.

“The reason I’m going public with my outrage over this allegation is that I had hoped that Donald Trump would issue his own statement of the rumor being completely unfounded, and that has not happened quickly enough,” the statement said.

The skater said she knows Trump and his wife, but not well.

“I’ve been around Donald Trump four times in my life,” Fleming said. “We had a business relationship. I wouldn’t even call him a good friend.” (Related story, E1.)