Mabel Fairbanks was an African American figure skater and coach who paved the way for other minorities to compete in the sport of figure skating.
Competitive skating remained closed to her, but she decided to create champions even if she couldn’t be a champion on the ice.
Mabel Fairbanks was the daughter of an African American father and a Seminole mother, born on November 14, 1915, in the Florida Everglades.
She was orphaned at 8 and faced impossible odds.
In the era of segregation, her dream was to figure skate, but she was barred from the ice rink. Later, she practiced in frozen-over ponds, and her relentless spirit captivated audiences.
Mabel was a powerful force for integration in skating and broke the color barrier. She mentored and championed many athletes to win a national U.S. skating title.
Sadly, she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis in 1997 and acute leukemia in mid-2001. She passed away on September 29, 2001, at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California.
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Mabel Fairbanks Shattered Figure Skating’s Color Barrier
Mabel Fairbanks fell in love with figure skating and gained further inspiration after seeing Sonja Henie in the 1936 film One in a Million.
She bought herself used skates for $1.50, stuffed them with cotton because they were two sizes too big, and began skating at the rink.
Mabel was eager to learn and approached professional rinks, but her access was denied due to her race.
She found her own ice at frozen ponds and Central Park’s public rinks. Her raw talent and power turned heads. Coaches and skaters stopped to watch her gift that can’t be taught.
In the 1940s, she moved to Los Angeles, performing in nightclubs for Hollywood’s elite. However, racism followed.
When a rink in Pasadena Winter Gardens banned Black skaters, she protested and won, opening doors for herself and for generations to come.
They had a sign at the Pasadena Winter Gardens that read “Colored Trade Not Solicited.”
Mabel Fairbanks
But it was a public place, so my uncle had newspaper articles written about it and passed them out everywhere until they finally let me in.
Mabel was barred from competitive skating and chose a different path.
She became a coach, pouring every lesson from her own struggle into her students. She taught them to skate, to fight, and to believe in themselves when the world said no.
Her students became legends, including gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, Tiffany Chin, Rudy Galindo, Tai Babilonia, Scott Hamilton, Randy Gardner, and many more.
They weren’t just skaters, but they were pioneers who reshaped the sport.
Mabel coached until she was 79. She was the first African American inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
She never stood on an Olympic podium but built an empire of excellence that no one could take away.
If I had gone to the Olympics and become a star, I would not be who I am today.
Mabel Fairbanks
