Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Blair's only disappointment was finishing 21st in the 1500 meter race. The . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. This sensational run made Blair the top gold medalist at the festival. All of Blair's two sisters and three brothers speed skated competitively because of their father. To celebrate, she climbed into the stands, still wearing her skates, to hug her family and friends. "Bonnie Blair is a 5-4 Colossus on Skates." During this last season, she shattered her world record time for the 500-meter sprint twice. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Sports Illustrated (January 20, 1997): 4. . It's a solitary sport, one in which you can claim all the rewards as your own. Parrish, Paula. She again won the world sprint title in 1994, also winning the World Cup 500- and 1,000-metre races that year. She was considered the best American hope for a medal, and did not disappoint. In addition to her ongoing endorsement commitments, Blair serves as a sports commentator on the ABC television network and sits on the board of directors of the U.S. speed skating team. [39] The Blair Bunch, the name given to Blair's family and friends, accounted for 12% of the crowd at the Pettit National Ice Center. "A Bonnie blare." [46] In 2004, she was elected to the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. Four days later, she took the gold in the 1,000-meter race, winning by just two one-hundredths of a second. bonnie blair siblingsmeadowglen lane apartments. Blair was forced to rely on superior technique and a ferocious will to win because of her physical limitations. Blair herself was introduced to the sport when she was just two years old. memorial page for Bonnie Crest Walter Blair (18 Sep 1907-20 Mar 1998), Find a Grave Memorial ID 41060206, citing Oleander Memorial Gardens, Wilmington, New Hanover County . "Blair, Bonnie Sporting News (February 14, 1994): S15. "Yanks on the move." All of Blair's two sisters and three brothers speed skated competitively because of their father. On 23 June 1996 she married Dave Cruikshank, a fellow speed skater on the U.S. Olympic Blair's introduction to competitive skating was as a pack racer on short tracks where she competed against many people in one race. Of the six, five were gold, making Blair the only American woman to ever win five gold medals in the games. Sports Illustrated (January 27, 1988): 236. Though four of Blair's other siblings went on to win national championships, it was Blair who did the best as a competitive speed skater. Bonnie Blair was born on March 18, 1964 in Cornwall, New York, USA. After fellow speed skater Johann Olav Koss founded Right to Play in 2000, he recruited Blair to serve as one of the charities first celebrity ambassadors. She was only 5'5" and 125-130 lbs. Blair wanted to continue to train for the 1984 Olympics and beyond, but had problems getting funding for her training. Bonnie Blair was born in Cornwall, NY on March 18, 1964. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. But Dave gave me real direction.". She won gold at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. She surpassed her 1988 Olympic performance, taking home the gold medal not only in the 500-meter event, but in the 1,000-meter race as well. Speed skater Bonnie Blair started racing at the age of four and went on to be one of the fastest competitors of her time (via Britannica ). During her gold medal-winning race, she also set a world's record with a time of 39.1 seconds. [28] Blair was back to competing later in the season and won the 1989 World Sprint Championships held in Heerenveen, Netherlands. [2] Blair's family friends in the stands, affectionately known as the "Blair Bunch," became a staple of her competitive career. Having gained five gold medals and one bronze medal in three Olympic Games, Blair became the most decorated female Winter Olympian in U.S. history. Chambers, 1997. 47 No. In Champaign, I'd miss a workout or two. We can also contact her at bonnie.hoellein@gmail.com for more information. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning five gold medals and one bronze medal. Matson, Barbara. 1939- Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Because an indoor training oval, Pettit National Ice Center, opened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Blair moved there from Champaign. She was an exceptionally consistent skater, able to maintain an accentuated crouch and a smooth rhythm in her strides throughout a race, while other skaters typically lost time to momentary lapses in their technique. Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973) was one of the greatest distance runners of all time. At fifteen, Blair was named to the U.S. speed skating team. In 1986, Blair set her first world's record in the 500 meters. She is one of the top skaters of her era, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Sports Illustrated (March 7, 1994): 42. All these elder siblings became a canopy of extra moms and dads under which Bonnie grew up. For nearly a decade betw, Heiden, Eric . ." Despite unfavorable weather conditions at the outdoor rink, Blair won the 500-meter race. In 1989, she won the World Sprint Championships, though she did not train as hard as she had for the Olympics. She began training with Cathy Priestner, who had won a silver medal in speed skating for Canada in the 1976 games, at the University of Illinois rink. ." To become an Olympic champion, Blair needed further training as well as racing experience on the long track. See also Alexander Wolff, "Bonnie's Bounty: Unassuming Bonnie Blair Sped to Victory in 1,000 Meters to Become the U.S.'s Most Gilded Woman Olympian Ever," Sports Illustrated (7 Mar. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. But Blair is going out on top." When was Bonnie Parker born? "Bonnie Blair," HickokSports.com, http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/blairbon.shtml (March 10, 2003). She lived in Whitesburg, Letcher, Kentucky, United States for about 10 . She knows just a thing or two about U.S. speed skating and the rise of women's sports. They have two children. World class track-and-field athlete [5]:45 Blair also began to pick-up more endorsements, including sports marketing group Advantage International. [23] U.S. speed skating failure to win a single medal at the 1984 Olympics added to the pressure and attention focused on Blair leading up to the 1988 games. Blair won the World Sprint Championships, then retired on March 18, 1995, after the competition held on her home ice in Milwaukee. Recognized as one of track and field history's most accomplished sprinters, Evelyn Ashford is, Moses, Edwin 1955 Born December 29, 1911, in Hopkins County, KY, she was the daughter of the late Thomas Monroe Dockery and Thurman Fox Dockery. "I'm like, 'She's my mom.' It's never really a thought, and I guess I won't ever really . (b. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal. [31] Although she had won gold at the prior Olympics, Blair felt that her small stature made her an underdog against much larger East German competitors. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. [34] At the 1994, U.S. Olympic long-track trials at the Pettit National Ice Center, Blair set track records in the first round of the 500 meter and 1,000 meter trails. "Bonnie Blair Encyclopedia.com. [11] Her time was only 0.02 seconds faster than Ye. Bonnie Blair-Cruikshank's 21-year old daughter, Blair, has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to compete in this week's U.S. long track speedskating Olympic trials at the. Bonnie Kathleen Blair "To mettle the medal." In both races, she was pushed by Ye Qiaobo of China who earned two silver medals. She became almost as well known for her entourage of family and friendsa group deemed the Blair Bunch that had grown to more than 60 people by 1994who went with her to each of her Olympic competitions to cheer her on from the stands. Brand, David. "Bonnie Blair Blair finished 0.36 seconds ahead of the second best time in the 500 meters. Charlie had dreamed of Bonnie becoming an Olympic speed skater. [20] Blair also proved she could beat East-German world champion Karin Enke-Kania in head-to-head match-ups. She also managed the oval built for the Calgary games after the Oympics ended for a number of years. She received help from the local Champaign community. By the time she was in grade school, speed skating had become her number-one leisure activity. At the 1988 Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she was a favourite in the sprint events and earned a gold in the 500-metre event and a bronze in the 1,000-metre event. She also won two gold medals at the '92 . Her stellar performance at the 1992 Olympics also earned Blair the Sullivan Award as the Best Amateur Athlete in the United States. Although she was small for a speed skater, Blairs technique was nearly flawless. Rushin, Steve. [8] Blair took classes at Parkland College, although college classes were less of a priority than training and she did not receive a degree. She also represented Canada in speed skating in the 1972 games in Sapporo, Japan. In addition, Blair was active in charity work and continued to do some commercial endorsements for companies like General Mills products at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Wolff, Alexander. That's where Bonnie, born in Illinois, moved to train. [7][39] Less than a month after Lillehammer Olympics, Blair set another world record in the 500 meters, becoming the first female to complete the race in under 39 seconds, achieving a time of 38.99 seconds. The Champaign police department sponsored a campaign to support "Champaign Policemen's Favorite Speeder," raising $7,000 for Blair so that she could move to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and practice there with other competitive skaters. 9.04M subscribers Subscribe to @olympics: http://oly.ch/Subscribe Highlights as Bonnie Blair takes part in her third Olympic Games. She went on to ISU to get her degree in criminal justice. Petruso, A. She was the most decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history when she retired in 1995. Witteman, Paul A. For her success, Blair was named the Babe Zaharis Female Amateur Athlete of the Year and sportswoman of the Year by Sports Illustrated for 1994. Phillips, Angus. [32] Blair won her second gold of the 1992 Olympics in the 1,000 meters (1:21.90). [5]:45 After the Olympics, Blair moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to train at the newly opened Pettit International Ice Center. In winning the 500- and 1,000-meter speed-skating racesgiving her five career gold medals and a bronze, earned over three sets of gamesBlair proved herself to be the greatest female sprint . Bonnie Blair C Retweeted. So, the police department in Champaign stepped in to raise money for her trip, holding a series of raffles and bake sales. At the time, Blair trained in both short-track and long-track speed skating. Encyclopedia.com. Blair was born on March 18, 1964, in Cornwall, New York, the youngest of six children. [14] After the 1984 Olympics, Blair worked closely with coach Mike Crowe to improve her skating skills to compete with the powerful East German skaters. "I just thought it was the right time," she said of her retirement to [34] Blair felt as though she had lost her quickness and after failing to rectify the problem with coach Peter Mueller, she switched to Nick Thometz. ", Blair competed as a speed skater one more season following her last Olympic win. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bonnie-Blair, Bonnie Blair - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Blair has also become an accomplished motivational speaker, addressing audiences on such topics as "Achieving Your Personal Best." Blair won her first gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary, Canada. She counts herself lucky in being able to maintain such an active retirement, noting that not all Olympic gold medalists have been as fortunate. [7] Blair topped her own World Record the following year, achieving a time of 38.69 on February 12, 1995 in Calgary. [28], Following the 1988 Olympics, Blair also tried track cycle racing, and was coached by former speed skater and cycling world champion Connie Paraskevin. [40][41] Blair became involved with Right to Play, When the Winter Olympics returned to the United States in 2002, Blair was one of the final torchbearers to carry the Olympic flame into Rice-Eccles Stadium for the opening ceremony in Salt Lake City, Utah. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964) is a retired American speed skater. Blair was also the first American speed skater to win in more than one Olympic Games (1988, 1992, and 1994). Father's influence Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on May 6, 1953. "Bonnie's bounty." "Bonnie the blue." She made her competitive cycling debut in June 1989 at the Sundance Juice Sparkler Grand Prix. At the 1992 Games in Albertville, France, she captured the gold medal in both the 500- and 1,000-metre competitions, a feat that she repeated at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Bonnie Blair. An excellent student, she was allowed to graduate halfway through her senior year to focus on her training. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning five gold medals and one bronze medal. So far, this channel has garnered over 758.4 million views and more than 1.35 million subscribers. She was the daughter of Charlie and Eleanor Blair, who raised their large Catholic family in Champaign, Illinois. Blair would also hold a number of world's and American records over the course of her speed skating career. After the turn of the twenty-first century, Blair still found herself involved in speed skating, even though she no longer competed. Team", "Winter Olympics: Calgary: BLAIR WITH HER: U.S.'s Leading Skater Hopes She's Worth Her Weight in Gold", "Winter Olympics: In Flash of a Skate, Blair Wins the Gold, Sets Record in 500", "GOLD: Blair has decade of Olympic thoughts to remember", "No Endorsement Windfall Seen For The Stars Of Calgary Games", "Sports World Specials: Cycling: A Smooth-as-Ice Switch", "The Olympics Winter Games at Albertville: Blair Is Golden for 500 Meters: Speedskating: In a popular victory, she becomes the first woman to win the event in consecutive Olympics", "Blair Wins Second Gold by a Skate: Speedskating: She beats Ye by 0.02 seconds to become most decorated U.S. woman in Winter Olympics history", "SPEEDSKATING: Blair Pushes Herself to Two Records", "ESPN Classic - Blair marches to record fifth gold medal", "Blair earns high five in Olympic farewell LIillehammer '94", "How speed skaters and Right to Play are inspiring kids around the world", "New Blair on big oval: Bonnie's daughter is a speedskater", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", "Notable US Olympic Hall of Fame inductees", "Bonnie Blair Cruikshank paints star on Flag of Hope", "Cover Story: Weddings of the Year Vol.
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