Thumbs Up: The Elizabeth Manley Story

Glynn A. Leyshon is a professor of physical education at the University
of Western Ontario, a former weekly columnist for the London Free Press,
and author of 18 Sporting Stories.

Elizabeth Manley made Canadian hearts soar by winning a silver medal in
figure skating at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Her outstanding performance
made her an overnight sensation. But of course it had taken her a lot
longer than overnight to reach the standards demanded by the Olympics;
this book tells how (and sometimes why) she did it.

An army brat born in Belleville, Ontario, and raised in Ottawa, Manley
went through many ups and downs, falls, injuries, love affairs
(including a liaison with a Soviet skater) disasters, and triumphs on
her way to becoming a world-class athlete. Most are detailed in Thumbs
Up.

In perusing the story of Manley’s first 24 years, the reader comes to
appreciate that figure skating at its most intense is not very
forgiving. One of Manley’s American rivals, for example, was a nearly
successful suicide. Manley herself at one point suffered such emotional
pressure that her hair fell out and she had to compete wearing a wig.
She also gained a very obvious 20 pounds.

Having overcome such obstacles and emerged an Olympic silver medalist,
Manley makes a very sympathetic character. The book presents a nice
contrast between the scared and insecure teenager and the glamorous and
worldly international figure.

After the Olympics, Manley signed an Ice Capades contract that enabled
her to repay the large debt her amateur career had cost her mother. To
leave one phase of life in such a manner and begin a new one was
satisfying to Manley and proves a fitting end to the book.