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Spinning Gold from a Gold Medal
by Shannon Geis
Oct 13 2008
Oct 13 2008
In 1968, figure skater Peggy Fleming melted Americans' hearts. Forty years later, her winery, TV job, and charities show she's cool off the ice too.
The 1968 Olympics where Peggy Fleming won the gold medal, and the hearts of Americans, was broadcast on ABC in color for the first time. And since that triumph, one of the colors the figure skating darling has seen most of is green.
Whether she's being driven by personal causes—such as her battle with breast cancer—or running a California vineyard with her husband, Fleming has a way of making things work.
Fleming, whose medal was the only gold the United States won at the Grenoble, France, games that year, became a celebrity in part because her victory signaled a return to American dominance in figure skating following a 1961 plane crash that killed the entire U.S. figure skating team, including her coach, William Kipp.
Fleming’s gold medal also brought figure skating into the homes of Americans across the country. After the Olympics, she starred in five television specials. Her fourth special in 1973 was the first joint production by Soviets and Americans filmed entirely in the U.S.S.R. And her career extended well beyond most skaters of her generation, even performing at the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986.
She has maintained a career as a sports analyst on ABC for over 20 years covering figure skating competitions of all sorts, including several Winter Olympics. It's a job she learned on the fly.
"There was no training. They gave me a microphone and said, 'You're now a commentator' and I'm like, 'Well, okay…,'" Fleming explains. She has relied on her experience on the ice to relate what the skaters are going through to the viewers.
Fleming has leveraged her skating fame as an opportunity to gain commercial and nonprofit endorsements too. "I don't just do them because you get paid a lot. That helps, but it also has to be really truly me," she said.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, she decided to share her experience with the public so that other women would know the importance of discovering the disease early, a factor that helped save her life. She has made appearances on 20/20, Oprah, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show in order to promote the cause. She is also the national spokesperson for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Today, Fleming and her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins, whom she married in 1970, run Fleming Jenkins Vineyard & Winery in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their winery produces close to 2,000 cases of wine per year. A few years ago, Fleming and Jenkins began selling a Rosé wine named Victory, the profits of which go to breast cancer research.
Fleming still falls back on what she learned as a skater.
"Now in the business world I bring those same lessons…you know, believing in yourself and challenging and testing yourself all the time, but most importantly, have a vision of the future," Fleming said.
Whether she's being driven by personal causes—such as her battle with breast cancer—or running a California vineyard with her husband, Fleming has a way of making things work.
Fleming, whose medal was the only gold the United States won at the Grenoble, France, games that year, became a celebrity in part because her victory signaled a return to American dominance in figure skating following a 1961 plane crash that killed the entire U.S. figure skating team, including her coach, William Kipp.
Fleming’s gold medal also brought figure skating into the homes of Americans across the country. After the Olympics, she starred in five television specials. Her fourth special in 1973 was the first joint production by Soviets and Americans filmed entirely in the U.S.S.R. And her career extended well beyond most skaters of her generation, even performing at the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986.
She has maintained a career as a sports analyst on ABC for over 20 years covering figure skating competitions of all sorts, including several Winter Olympics. It's a job she learned on the fly.
"There was no training. They gave me a microphone and said, 'You're now a commentator' and I'm like, 'Well, okay…,'" Fleming explains. She has relied on her experience on the ice to relate what the skaters are going through to the viewers.
Fleming has leveraged her skating fame as an opportunity to gain commercial and nonprofit endorsements too. "I don't just do them because you get paid a lot. That helps, but it also has to be really truly me," she said.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, she decided to share her experience with the public so that other women would know the importance of discovering the disease early, a factor that helped save her life. She has made appearances on 20/20, Oprah, and The Rosie O'Donnell Show in order to promote the cause. She is also the national spokesperson for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Today, Fleming and her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins, whom she married in 1970, run Fleming Jenkins Vineyard & Winery in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their winery produces close to 2,000 cases of wine per year. A few years ago, Fleming and Jenkins began selling a Rosé wine named Victory, the profits of which go to breast cancer research.
Fleming still falls back on what she learned as a skater.
"Now in the business world I bring those same lessons…you know, believing in yourself and challenging and testing yourself all the time, but most importantly, have a vision of the future," Fleming said.
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