After five national championships in figure skating, Tai Babilonia and her partner Randy Gardner were on top of the world. Headed into the 1980 Olympics, they were the prohibitive favorites to win the gold for pairs skating. Then their world fell apart when Randy endured an injury that crushed their dreams.
“In the matter of three minutes,” she says, “our entire lives changed. Right in front of the world. But it didn’t happen the way it was expected to happen.”
Despite a hugely successful professional career, Tai soon found herself on thin ice, swirling and sinking in the deepest throes of alcoholism. “I crashed and burned. I’m not proud of those days. I tried to take my life.”
Tai’s personal woes became tabloid fodder and the subject of a TV movie. “I threw myself into therapy and began to put the pieces of my life together.” Today on BOLD, find out how this remarkable woman finally made her way back to the top. Tai’s site is www.taibabilonia.com. Join the conversation at www.getboldtoday.com.
