Elizabeth Manley first came on to the Canadian figure skating scene in earnest in 1981 when she took home bronze medals at the World Junior Championships and the Canadian Senior Championships. She improved her ranking to runner-up in the following year’s Canadian Championships, but placed 13th at the World Senior Championships. She briefly dropped out of the sport in 1983, for personal emotional health reasons, after failing to reach the podium at the Canadian Championships, but came back in 1984 as runner-up in the tournament, as well as 8th at the World Championships and 13th at the Winter Olympics in the single’s event. The following year she finally won the Canadian title, but placed 9th at the World Championships. She improved her ranking in the tournament to 5th the following year, but lost the Canadian title to Tracey Wainman. She regained the title in 1987 and rose to 4th at the World Championships but, as the 1988 Winter Olympics approached, she was not considered a contender for a medal. Nevertheless, she was once again named Canadian champion and managed to win second place at the World Championships. Despite this, however, her silver medal at the Olympics came as a surprise to most Canadians and she was quickly bolted into celebrity status after her performance.
Manley turned professional after the Olympics and for years skated in ice shows and television specials. She then began coaching, first in Florida, then Philadelphia and finally in Ottawa at the Elizabeth Manley rink. She has also published two autobiographies and appeared in a documentary about her life. Since her mother, who had gone into debt to finance Elizabeth’s training, died of ovarian cancer in July of 2008, she has been a spokesperson for Ovarian Cancer Canada’s Winners Walk of Hope. She was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1988.
Canada