People

By Guy D. Garcia

It had been three years, almost half a lifetime in amateur skating, since Americans had captured both the men's and women's singles titles at the annual World Figure Skating Championships. In Geneva last week neither of the defending favorites was from the U.S., but when the ice cleared, the best in the world were two Californians, Brian Boitano, 22, and Debi Thomas, 18. (He is from Sunnyvale, she from San Jose.) In the freestyle final, Boitano zoomed from fourth place to first on the strength of a bravura jitterbugging performance to Gershwin and the blues. Thomas "just got inspired" after watching Boitano, and the next night, instead of playing it safe to protect a slight lead, she came on strong to a combination of Duke Ellington and ballet music in a program that contained four triple jumps, including a tricky triple-double toe-loop combination. "I don't believe it," said a tearful Thomas, who is the first black world champion ever in skating.