Manley gave us a magic moment

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/07/2009 (6168 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I remember where I was when Elizabeth Manley won her silver medal in figure skating at the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary.

I was in my cousin Kim’s new Toronto apartment helping her unpack from her move from Winnipeg. We put down everything and sat on her couch, surrounded by boxes, to watch Manley. When the 4-foot-11 skater won the long program and clasped her hands in triumph, both of us cried.

I’m so grateful I saw that, and not just because Manley won, but also because of how she won — with the ultimate display of sportsmanship. All the focus until then had been on Katarina Witt of Germany, who ended up winning gold, and Debi Thomas of the USA, who won bronze.

Manley kept her poise, stayed out of the limelight and then thrilled the world with the best performance of her career. Manley, now 43, was in Winnipeg on Friday to conduct her third annual two-day skills clinic with the Skate Winnipeg figure skating club at Dakota Community Centre. She worked with over 50 young skaters aged six through 20, and gave individual instruction to over half of those.

When I met her during her lunch break, she was effervescent and friendly and told me immediately how much Winnipeg means to her. She held her clinic here last summer on the day after the funeral of her mom, Joan Manley, who died of ovarian cancer on July 5, 2008.

"My mom and I were best friends so it was a very, very difficult time for me. But coming here was one of the best things I did," said Manley, who moved back to Ottawa two years ago from Philadelphia, where she had lived for 18 years. "It all happened so quickly. I came here and everyone was so wonderful, so supportive and so understanding that I had just lost my mom and it helped me get through.

"The kids here made me laugh, they made me smile."

Manley, hired by CTV as a commentator for men’s and women’s figure skating at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, said she can hardly remember the moment when she finished her Olympic long program because of the intense emotion.

It’s ironic that she barely remembers a moment that many Canadians will never forget.

"The silver medal is wonderful, I’m so proud, but there’s much more behind that medal," said Manley, the national spokesperson for Ovarian Cancer Canada’s Winners Walk of Hope and the Alzheimer Society of Canada, a disease which has struck her father Bernie.

"To me it’s more about people coming up to me and telling me they remember where they were that night. Now that I’m back in Canada, I’m feeling proud of it. It’s got nothing to do with the medal, I’ve made a moment for people and that’s the gold medal in itself." I’m phoning my cousin about this tonight.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca