Mabel Fairbanks
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Mabel Fairbanks (November 14, 1916-October 2001) was an African-American figure skater and later a coach. She fell in love with figure skating in the 1930s when she saw Sonya Henie in movies. She could not skate in the 1930s because she could not not join a figure skating club due to her race. She was secretly coached by Maribel Vinson Owen at night when African Americans were allowed admission to ice ranks. She eventually left the United States and became a show skater. After retiring from skating, she started a skating club and coached students of all races. She was responsible for pairing up Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner as well as Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudy Galindo. Both teams would eventually go on to train with John Nicks after she taught both teams everything she knew. She also started the careers of Scott Hamilton, Tiffany Chin, and Debi Thomas before they went on to train with more famous coaches. She coached pairs skaters Leslie Robinson and Michelle McCladdie as well as individual skaters Atoy Wilson for their entire career.
In 1977, Fairbanks was the first African American inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
