1988 Olympic bronze medalist in ice dance, with Tracy Wilson
1986-88 World bronze medalist, with Tracy Wilson
1982-88 Canadian champion in ice dance, with Tracy Wilson
1981 Canadian champion in ice dance, with McNeil
Rob McCall was one of the greatest ice dancers Canada has ever produced, a gifted choreographer, and by all accounts a witty, well-loved man. With Tracy Wilson, he followed up multiple Canadian dance titles with a medal-winning freeskate to "Maple Leaf Rag" that some judges considered the strongest of the 1988 Olympics. As pros, Wilson and McCall won a World Pro title and toured with Stars on Ice.
McCall was very much part of the Canadian and international skating scene, as is obvious from fond mentions in skating books such as Stars on Ice and the autobiographies of Toller Cranston, Brian Orser, and Scott Hamilton. He and Orser were especially close (best friends from childhood but not lovers, as believed by some), and he choreographed some of Orser's best-known pro numbers.
McCall's rapid and shocking decline from AIDS has been well-documented, most touchingly in Cranston's Zero Tollerance. In his honor, Orser worked with McCall's family to hold extensive fundraisers and establish funds to further AIDS-related research. Wilson, who has had international success as a sports broadcaster, has become an AIDS activist and spokeswoman.
Rainbow Ice did not initially include McCall as an out gay skater, because although his AIDS-related death on November 15, 1991 was internationally publicized, not a single media outlet mentioned his sexual orientation or even addressed the crude question of "how he got the virus." There is every indication that McCall and/or his loved ones did not desire public discourse on those subjects. However, in his 1999 autobiography Landing It, Scott Hamilton included McCall in his discussion of gay skaters. In the absence of any challenge to the contrary, this information meets Rainbow Ice's criteria for inclusion.
