5th Anniversary Blog
All Photos: Alan Mercer Lighting: Eric V.
Tai Babilonia is an American former pair skater, who along with Randy Gardner, began skating together when Tai was eight years old and Randy was ten. The pair became five-time U.S. national champions and won the gold medal at the 1979 World Championships.
Tai and Randy first came into prominence by winning the National Junior Pairs Championship in 1973. By 1974, they had become the youngest pair team ever to represent the United States in the World Championships. By 1976 they had won the first of five consecutive U.S. Senior Pairs titles. And, by 1979 they had earned the highest score ever recorded in Pairs skating at the U.S. National Competitions. That same year they were crowned World Figure Skating Champions in Vienna, Austria and, with victory in hand, they simultaneously upset a 14 year Soviet domination of pairs skating by becoming the first Americans in 29 years to capture the much heralded title.
By 1980 and the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, Tai and Randy had not only become the sweethearts of figure skating, but had also won the hearts of America. As America's greatest hope, they were highly favored to win the Olympic Gold medal.
However, as history began to write itself, this victory was tragically one not meant for Tai and Randy. During the warm-up prior to their premier Olympic performance, Randy fell due to a previous injury. As the audience in the arena gasped for breath, so did a television viewing audience of millions. The pair was forced to withdraw from Olympic competition. Indeed, at that moment in time, they knew a lifelong dream had been shattered. But what they didn't know...was that they had begun to embark on a career of such longevity and such staying power, that it would prove incomparable to any team before them and, perhaps, any in the future.
A few months later, Tai and Randy were invited to turn professional as special guest stars with the Ice Capades. From 1980 until 1983, they toured 30 weeks a year with engagements in every major and secondary market in the country. America embraced them with open arms.
Starring appearances in numerous ice spectaculars followed, and, so did countless awards and honors. One of the most distinguished, was in September of 1987 when the United States Olympic Committee announced a unique program to honor athletes who have demonstrated exceptional achievement and represented the spirit of the Olympic Games. The program honored one Olympian from each of the games since 1968 and was voted on by a panel of pre-1968 Olympians, USOC officials, and over 2,000 members of the national press. By overwhelming response, Tai and Randy received the first Olympic Spirit Award.
Having already become annual headliners in the main showroom of Harrah's Hotel in Lake Tahoe and, by the early 1990's, headliners at the Desert Inn Hotel in Las Vegas and Balley's in Atlantic City, Tai and Randy continued to epitomize the meaning of true marquee value. If audiences didn't have the chance to see them in person, they saw them frequently on various network television specials and in print and television advertising campaigns for such products as Nestle's Crunch and Lee Jeans. They were also the subject of ‘On Thin Ice,’ a fact based NBC television movie which chronicled Tai's life, in particular, but featured both Tai and Randy's personal relationship and budding career.
In 1992, to add to an already remarkable list of achievements, Tai and Randy were inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Joining the company of such skating greats as Scott Hamilton and Peggy Fleming, the induction was followed by Tai and Randy's 25th Anniversary celebrated in a 40 city nationwide Tour of World Figure Skating Champions.
Tai was the first figure skater of partial African American descent to win U.S. and World titles. She is also part Filipino on her father's side and part Native American. In 1990, a biographical film of her rise to fame was aired on television, ‘On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story.’
Tai Babilonia was inspired at the age of six to begin ice skating after watching Peggy Fleming on television. Tai is a single mother to her son Scout.
AM: Tai, I’m so happy you are everywhere all the time these days. What changed in your life to allow this?
TB: I had to leave Los Angeles five years ago. Not intentionally to get sober, but I knew I had to leave home to save myself.
AM: How did you know?
TB: I could feel myself slipping. It was instinct. It just happened to be Ashland, Oregon where I got sober. So I was gone and then I got it under control, so it was time to get back to work.
AM: Do you mean skating?
TB: The work as a figure skater doesn’t role in like it used to.
AM: That makes sense.
TB: Skating isn’t as popular as it used to be. For years it was the number one most watched sport. It’s taken a big dive. I don’t want to say I had to reinvent myself, but I told myself to try everything. Be open to everything. I had nothing to lose. At the time I didn’t have a manager or an agent. I didn’t have anyone. It was all up to me.
AM: Did you use social media?
TB: Yes, facebook and twitter. I started posting pictures and little things. I built on all that.
AM: Did you realize the importance of social media when you started?
TB: I knew I had to keep myself out there. It was the only platform I had.
AM: Were you surprised at how quickly you have re-established a following?
TB: Shocked! I’m very open with my sobriety. I’m not hiding. I am proud of it. I posted this information right away and I got such a strong and good reaction. People just embraced me. That’s when I realized it was about the honesty. Don’t lie to them and don’t lie to yourself. No more secrets. That was key to get them back.
AM: So you really understand the importance of being authentic.
TB: Being authentic and being honest. The fans are my cheer leading squad and I need that. I don’t want to say I’m needy but for what I know I have to do, I’m not a good cheer leader for myself. I need the die hard fans and family to help me along. Thank God for facebook and twitter.
AM: You can’t make people be interested in you, so they were already interested in you to begin with.
TB: They were waiting. They knew I was gone. I didn’t say exactly why I went. I kept that kind of on the down low. I didn’t tell my skating partner or even my family. I high tailed it out of town because I knew that if I didn’t, there would be a major problem. I caught myself just in time. Thank God for my sobriety and being open to new adventures.
AM: Is one of those adventures your Tai Treats candy?
TB: Yes, thank God for Frank Sheftel and his family. They believed in me. Frank saw I was hungry and motivated. So once again I post a lot about the candy and someone sees it. It’s all word of mouth. It has snowballed. How lucky am I?
AM: Yes, but it’s a lot of work too.
TB: I am working my butt off!
AM: And you’ve raised a child too.
TB: Yes, he’s eighteen. His father just got him a car so I do not even see Scout anymore. I want to hold on but my Mom says you have to let him go, let him be a man. She told me he will come back. The whole growing up period caught me off guard. It’s so fast and I was not prepared for it. It’s nice to see him turn into a good young man.
AM: Well it gives you a chance to skate again. How is that after a few years?
TB: The last time Randy and I performed was 2005. We did a reunion in Lake Placid. It was the 25th Anniversary of the Olympics which we did not compete in.
AM: That must have been awesome!
TB: That was an emotional moment for us. We hadn’t been back on the ice in front of a crowd since then. We recently got invited to the Scott Hamilton Annual Cancer Charity event.
AM: I bet you enjoyed that didn’t you?
TB: It’s like we never left. We heard about the event and we had 6 weeks to practice. We did it in Cleveland and it was great because we did a number after the finale. No one quite knew what it would be and Cyndi Lauper sang ‘True Colors’ live. Scott and Dorothy Hamill did something and then Randy and I came out and the place erupted. This was old school. What a moment! It showed Randy and myself that there’s still something there. I like to say, “We still have some glitter left up our sleeves.”
AM: Back in the 80’s did you ever imagine yourself performing like this in 2014?
TB: No, at 54 years of age, absolutely not.
AM: And yet it’s so do-able for you.
TB: It’s so do-able, although we don’t do the same things we used to do. We have about 5 moves now. Scott Hamilton says stay vertical and we all did. I can now appreciate my past skating career more than ever. I don’t think I did before now.
AM: Back in the day when it was really happening was it a lot to deal with?
TB: Yes it was a lot, especially when we turned professional. It was big money, big tours, big hair, big drinking...big everything. It was the 80's, a big party. It’s easy to get lost. You lose the whole point of why you did it in the first place. It becomes about all this other stuff.
AM: It becomes about celebrity, but now you are in a place where you can actually enjoy your celebrity aren’t you?
TB: Absolutely, I’m embracing everything, but I couldn’t have done this today if I weren’t sober. I take nothing for granted. Back in the 80's I took things for granted.
AM: So what’s your ideal future?
TB: Staying productive and creative. I’m open to whatever comes my way. I want to try it all and give it my best shot. I’m so lucky I was given a second chance.
AM: And we, as your audience are lucky too.
TB: Thank you. You guys are so supportive.
AM: You give us hope. Do you understand why?
TB: I know why. People saw the slide down. I was very open about it. They made a movie about it. There was a People magazine cover story and I think the fans love the honesty. It’s about the honesty.
Follow Tai on Twitter https://twitter.com/taiskates