She was 17 and a student at Erindale high school when Karen Preston accomplished what not many skaters had been able to do before or since – she became Canadian ladies figure skating champion the first time she competed at the senior level.

     The Mississauga skater cut a fast trail from her first lessons with the Port Credit Figure Skating Club to the national throne. Before competing in Chiacoutami, Quebec, she had been to two national championships as a junior and came home with bronze medals both times. She went to Quebec in 1989 — high on desire, short on experience and hoping against hope — aiming “finish among the top five” at the senior nationals. Even that seemed insurmountable after she was eighth following the figures. But she won the short program and throwing caution to the wind — something that became a trademark for this spunky competitor —she skated a flawless long program that included a triple toe loop, salchow and a variety of spectacular jumps to earn a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd.

More importantly – skating to the theme song of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash musical hit, The Phantom of the Opera – she earned first-place ordinals across the board, and with it the right to wear Canada’s skating crown. Her Chicoutami bravado not only beat defending champion Charlene Wong, but established Preston a star and hair apparent to the great Elizabeth Manley.

     All in all, Karen won two national ladies titles. She also finished runner-up to Josee Chouinard in two championships.

     Preston represented Canada in three world championships (1989, ’92 and ’93), her best showing a pair of eighth-place finishes. In her second turn in the Olympic rink, Karen also finished a Canadian high eighth in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Lillehamer, Norway.

     Karen was chosen Mississauga’s Female Athlete of the Year for 1989 and a decade later with her amateur competitive days behind, the Mississauga’s Sports Hall of Fame opened its doors to her. After the sun set on her amateur career, Karen had a starring role as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Disney on Ice spectacular, Snow White. At the professional level, she won silver medal in the U.S. Open Pro Championship in ’97 and, a year later a bronze in the Canadian Pro-Am competition.

     Wherever she had competed, Karen never forgot her Mississauga roots.

     “My career has taken me a long way from Port Credit,” she said. “(But) I can vividly recall the excitement I experienced as a 10-year-old, driving with my family to a small (in hindsight) competition, but it was my first international! I recall the thrill of seeing the Canadian and American flags stretched out in the wind at the top of the Peace Bridge as we rolled into Buffalo.”

     Karen said she had been “very fortunate” to receive great support from her parents, dad Cliff and mom Elizabeth Preston, members of her family and many others.

     “As with every athlete, there were countless hours that go unnoticed. The early morning practices, the hours upon hours of fitness training, the personal sacrifices, and all the hard work that goes on endlessly behind the scenes. It’s done for the love of the sport and the desire to do one’s personal best.”