Calgary 1988 Exhibition & Closing Ceremony Highlights

Australian coverage (hosted by Mike Gibson). 1988 Calgary Winter Games. Figure Skating Exhibition Gala Highlights, skaters featured: Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov (Soviet Union, Pairs, Gold) Natalia Bestemianova & Andrei Bukin (Soviet Union, Ice Dance, Gold) Brian Orser (Canada, Men, Silver) Brian Boitano (United States, Men, Gold) Debi Thomas (United States, Women, Bronze) Elizabeth Manley (Canada, Women, Silver) Katarina Witt (East Germany, Women, Gold) -------------------------- Closing Ceremony Highlights: "For its closing, the largest temporary artificial ice surface in the world, 250 feet by 170 feet, was built three feet above the turf at McMahon Stadium. There was one problem with the ice. It kept melting. Then on Thursday, Games organizers finally covered the surface with a layer of Styrofoam and that protected the ice so that the show could go on. More than 250 skaters, including former gold medalists Dorothy Hamill and Robin Cousins, entertained the sellout crowd of 60,000." - NY Times extract Brian Pockar was the Closing Ceremonies Artistic Director and was responsible for the skating program that was featured in the Closing Ceremonies. -------------------------- Source: SkateGuard blog (https://www.skateguardblog.com/2023/0...) From Susan (via Twitter): "During the 1988 Calgary closing ceremony, Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini skated to a piece of music by a Canadian composer which to this day I really liked the program and the music but have never been able to find out what the piece was or who the composer was. I know this is rather obscure - but anyway I think they only skated this program once but it certainly stuck in my mind." A: The music used for Underhill and Martini's program when the flame was extinguished in Calgary was "The Cello and The Girl" by Juno award winning musician Tommy Banks. While we're on the topic of that Closing Ceremony, I will say as a skating history lover, I thought the performances in that Closing Ceremony were an absolute dream. Beautifully put together and so many fabulous skaters participated - Toller Cranston, Robin Cousins, Dorothy Hamill, Barbara Ann Scott, Karen Magnussen, Don Jackson, Petra Burka, Debbi Wilkes, Brian Pockar... the list goes on and on. Brian Pockar was the Artistic Director, Kevin Cottam the choreographer and Frances Dafoe the costume designer. A beautifully done tribute to skating history. -------------------------------------- #figureskating #フィギュアスケート #eiskunstlauf #фигурноекатание #피겨스케이팅 #pattinaggioartistico #patinageartistique special thanks to Kim!