Book Peggy Fleming

Peggy Fleming is an American figure skating legend whose artistry helped define the modern sport. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, she won the ladies' singles gold medal, the lone gold for the entire U.S. team at those Games, and she was a world champion three straight times from 1966 to 1968. She also collected five U.S. national titles. Raised in San Jose, California, Fleming started skating at nine, and after the tragic 1961 loss of the American skating team, including her coach William Kipp, she continued her training under Carlo Fassi. Her elegant free skate in Grenoble has been praised as a turning point in bringing artistic expression to competitive skating, and her victory gave the country a moment of national pride. The Associated Press named her its Athlete of the Year in 1968. After her competitive years, Fleming became a familiar voice in skating broadcasts, serving as a television commentator for twenty-plus years, including coverage of several Winter Olympics, and she remains an iconic, gracious ambassador for the sport.