Early in her career, Tracey Wainman was coached by Ellen Burka at the Toronto Cricket, Skating, and Curling Club.

At the age of 12, she won her first senior national medal, taking bronze at the 1980 Canadian Championships behind Heather Kemkaran and Janet Morrissey.

Howard Bass of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Tracey steals the show", and predicted she would win the 1984 Olympic title.

[2] At the start of the 1982–83 season, the CFSA stripped Wainman of an international assignment in the Netherlands, criticizing the 14-year-old's work ethic.

When Wainman resumed skating in the spring of 1984, she returned to her old coach, Ellen Burka, at the Toronto Cricket Club.

[2] She began her comeback at the 1985 Canadian National Championships by leading the field after the first phase, compulsory figures—then worth 30% of the final score.

After falling on a planned Triple Salchow+Double Toe Loop combination in her short program, she was left with required element scores as low as 4.0.

Returning to the Canadian Championships in February 1986, Wainman unexpectedly won her second national title, the judges putting her ahead of reigning champion Elizabeth Manley.

[2] Often cited as a cautionary example of a young skater who burned out after being prematurely pushed into the spotlight, Wainman commented in 2006, "if they had held me back, I might never have got to compete at the Worlds.

[2] In 1987, she married Czechoslovak skater Jozef Sabovčík and gave birth to their son, Blade, in spring 1992; the couple split in late 1993.