24 Olympic Moments That Defined the Sport of Figure Skating

Today, American figure skaters are highly competitive on the world stage, but that wasn't always the case. At the 1968 Olympics, Peggy Fleming was the only American athlete to win a gold medal. Her victory was particularly powerful coming several years after the deadly crash of Sabena Flight 548, which claimed the lives of the entire American figure skating team at the time, as well as many of their coaches, en route to the World Championships. Fleming's gold medal, seven years after the crash, represented something of a fresh start for the US Figure Skating program, and the country's skaters have continued to impress in the decades since.

Watch Fleming win the gold medal here.