Bonnie Blair
Encyclopedia
Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964 in Cornwall, New York
) is a retired American speedskater
. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic
history. Blair competed for the United States
in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal
.
. She attended Jefferson Middle School. After graduation from Centennial High School in Champaign, she moved to the Milwaukee
area to train with the United States national speed skating team.
in 1984. She failed to medal but finished eighth in the 500 meters. At the 1988 Winter Olympics
in Calgary, Alberta, Blair won gold in the 500 meters and bronze in the 1000 meters. In the 500 meters race, Blair set a world record by completing the event in 39.10 seconds. She won both the 500 and 1000 meters (1:21.90) again at the 1992 Winter Olympics
in Albertville, France.
voted to stage the Winter Olympics
and Summer Olympics
in alternating four year cycles. Thus, the next Winter Games would be held in February 1994 rather than in February 1996. The 1994 Winter Olympics
in Lillehammer, Norway, were a coronation of sorts for Blair: She again won gold in the 500 meters (39.25) and 1000 (1:18.74) meters races, in dominating fashion. Blair finished 0.36 seconds ahead of the second best time in the 500 meters, and her 1.38 second margin in the 1000 meters race is the largest margin of victory in the history of the event. In the process she became the first American woman to win five gold medals. She also was the only American to have 6 medals at any winter olympics, which record stood until Apolo Ohno tied it and then surpassed it at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when he won a silver and two bronze medals in short track speed skating
for eight career medals.
, the 1992 Oscar Mathisen Award
(being the first female winner of this award), the 1992 ABC
's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, and Sports Illustrated
Sportsman of the Year
, along with Johann Olav Koss
, in 1994. She also was Female Athlete of the Year as selected by the Associated Press
in 1994. Blair also won the World Cup points championship 11 times.
Blair also tried track cycle racing, and was coached by former speed skater and cycling world champion Connie Paraskevin
.
Blair also competed in short-track speed skating, becoming the Overall Short-track World Champion in 1986.
and the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
. In 2004, she was elected to the United States Olympic Hall of Fame
. At the time of her induction, Blair was the most decorated United States Winter Olympian of all time with 5 gold and one bronze (she is currently second to Apolo Ohno who has 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze if equality of medals irrespective of colour is applied). She is married to fellow Olympic speedskater Dave Cruikshank
, with whom she has a son, Grant, and daughter, Blair.
Cornwall, New York
Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, USA. It is located about 50 miles north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. The estimated population in 2007 was 12,827....
) is a retired American speedskater
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
history. Blair competed for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
.
Career
Blair was raised in Champaign, IllinoisChampaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
. She attended Jefferson Middle School. After graduation from Centennial High School in Champaign, she moved to the Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
area to train with the United States national speed skating team.
1984-1992 Olympics
Blair appeared at her first Olympic games in Sarajevo1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...
in 1984. She failed to medal but finished eighth in the 500 meters. At the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
in Calgary, Alberta, Blair won gold in the 500 meters and bronze in the 1000 meters. In the 500 meters race, Blair set a world record by completing the event in 39.10 seconds. She won both the 500 and 1000 meters (1:21.90) again at the 1992 Winter Olympics
1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...
in Albertville, France.
1994 Olympics
Blair took advantage of a change of Olympic rules. In 1986, the International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
voted to stage the Winter Olympics
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
and Summer Olympics
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
in alternating four year cycles. Thus, the next Winter Games would be held in February 1994 rather than in February 1996. The 1994 Winter Olympics
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...
in Lillehammer, Norway, were a coronation of sorts for Blair: She again won gold in the 500 meters (39.25) and 1000 (1:18.74) meters races, in dominating fashion. Blair finished 0.36 seconds ahead of the second best time in the 500 meters, and her 1.38 second margin in the 1000 meters race is the largest margin of victory in the history of the event. In the process she became the first American woman to win five gold medals. She also was the only American to have 6 medals at any winter olympics, which record stood until Apolo Ohno tied it and then surpassed it at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when he won a silver and two bronze medals in short track speed skating
Short track speed skating
Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m...
for eight career medals.
Outside the Olympics
After the 1994 Olympics, Blair continued to compete. In March 1994, Blair set another world record in the 500 meters, becoming the first female to complete the race in under 39 seconds (38.99). On March 18, 1995, she retired. Blair won several prestigious awards, including the 1992 James E. Sullivan AwardJames E. Sullivan Award
The James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the American Amateur Athletic Union , is awarded annually in April to "the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Often referred to as the Oscar of sports awards, it was first presented in 1930. The award is named for the AAU's founder and past...
, the 1992 Oscar Mathisen Award
Oscar Mathisen Award
Since 1959, the Oscar Mathisen Award is awarded annually for outstanding speed skating performance of the season...
(being the first female winner of this award), the 1992 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, and Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
Sportsman of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Americans are eligible, though in the past the...
, along with Johann Olav Koss
Johann Olav Koss
Johann Olav Koss is a former speed skater from Norway, considered to be one of the best in history, and current assistant coach of Norway's speed skating team.-Biography:...
, in 1994. She also was Female Athlete of the Year as selected by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
in 1994. Blair also won the World Cup points championship 11 times.
Blair also tried track cycle racing, and was coached by former speed skater and cycling world champion Connie Paraskevin
Connie Paraskevin
Constance Anne Paraskevin, known as Connie is a retired American professional track cyclist and speed skater...
.
Blair also competed in short-track speed skating, becoming the Overall Short-track World Champion in 1986.
Recognition, personal life
She is a member of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of FameChicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, located in the Hawthorne Race Course, in Stickney/Cicero, near Chicago, Illinois, honors sports greats associated with the greater Chicago area. It was founded in 1979 as a trailer owned by the Olympia Brewing Company parked at Soldier Field in Chicago. The...
and the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame is a promenade in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to honoring distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. New members are honored at a biennial banquet.-History:...
. In 2004, she was elected to the United States Olympic Hall of Fame
United States Olympic Hall of Fame
The United States Olympic Hall of Fame is an honor roll of the top American Olympic athletes.The Hall of Fame was established by the United States Olympic Committee in 1979; the first members were inducted in 1983. Between 1992 and 2003, the Hall of Fame went dormant, with no induction of new...
. At the time of her induction, Blair was the most decorated United States Winter Olympian of all time with 5 gold and one bronze (she is currently second to Apolo Ohno who has 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze if equality of medals irrespective of colour is applied). She is married to fellow Olympic speedskater Dave Cruikshank
Dave Cruikshank
David Wright "Dave" Cruikshank is a four-time U.S. Olympic speedskater, an NHL skating and performance coach, and co-owner of DC Hybrid Skating, a performance training center for hockey players in Milwaukee, WI....
, with whom she has a son, Grant, and daughter, Blair.