Peggy Gail Fleming, born on the 27th of July, 1948, is an American athlete and Olympian who became famous in 1968 for winning an Olympic gold medal as a figure skater.
So how much is Fleming’s net worth? As of mid 2017, based on authoritative sources it is reported to be $8 million acquired from her years as an athlete, and later on as a sports commentator and entrepreneur.
Born in San Jose, California, Fleming is the daughter of Albert Eugene Fleming, a journalist, and Doris Elizabeth Deal, a homemaker, the second of four children.
Peggy Fleming Net Worth $8 Million
Fleming’s interest in figure skating started at the age of nine, when her family moved to Cleveland. Her father encouraged her to pursue the sport and supported her career, however, unfortunately one of her earliest coachers, William Kipp, died in a plane crash in 1961 along with the United States figure skating team who were set to compete at that year’s World Figure Skating Championships.
Fleming then trained under the supervision of Carlo Fassi, who is a former skated himself. With Fassi’s help, she was able to win three World titles from 1966 to 1968 and an Olympic gold medal in 1968 as well, in Genoble, France. Her victory was extra special as she was the only athlete from the US Olympic team to be victorious. This also gave hope for the return of the Americans in figure skating after the terrible crash of 1961. Her career as an athlete and Olympian tremendously helped her career and net worth.
After her victory at the Olympics, Fleming decided to turn professional, and began performing in various television shows, and even toured with skating shows. She starred in “Peggy Fleming Visits the Soviet Union” in 1973, “Christmas on Ice” in 1990, and “Ice Stories” in 1995. She also appeared in “Fantasy Island”, “The Magic of Copperfield VII: Familares”, and “Nutcracker in Ice”. Her career in movies and television also helped raise her wealth.
In 1981, Fleming became a skating commentator for ABC Sports, and served for 20 years often working alongside Dick Button, also a former Olympian.
Today, Fleming is retired but still makes guest appearances in certain projects. She appeared in the 2007 movie “Blades of Glory”, and produced the 2010 documentary “Art of the Olympians”. She is also known as the third most popular athlete in the United States.
In terms of her personal life, Fleming is married to Greg Jenkins, a dermatologist and also a former figure skater whom he met when they were teenagers. The two married in 1970 and together they have two sons.
In 1998, Fleming was diagnosed with breast cancer but she was able to detect it and have it removed immediately. Since then she became an advocate for people who have breast cancer, and encouraged them to get themselves tested.
Fleming and her husband formerly owned and operated a vineyard near California’s Santa Cruz Mountains and named it “Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery” which they sold in 2012 with most of their remaining wines, some profits being donated to breast cancer research.
