They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Updates? As Blair approached the final 400 meters, Mueller gave the signal. She knows just a thing or two about U.S. speed skating and the rise of women's sports. She stopped training as a skater for a brief period, spending four months training as a cyclist. ." 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Bonnie Blair. "Bonnie Blair," HickokSports.com, http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/blairbon.shtml (March 10, 2003). [14], At the December 1987 U.S. speed skating trials for the 1988 Winter Olympics, Blair led the women's field in the 500,1,000, and 1,500 meters, securing her place on the U.S. Olympic team, as expected. Bonnie was born March 18, 1964. ", Blair competed as a speed skater one more season following her last Olympic win. . Though she knew she was retiring, she left on top. ." . She cut back on her skating and took up competitive bicycle racing. Also learn how She earned most of networth at the age of 56 years old? Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. [50] The pair married in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1996. Blair won her first gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary, Canada. Winning means you're doing better than you've ever done before. "Blair Enjoys Being Olympic Spectator." She also won two gold medals at the '92 . 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. [2][25] Blair's third and final event of the 1988 Winter Olympics was the 1,500 meters, in which she placed fourth. "I just thought it was the right time," she said of her retirement to [3] Early on, Blair competed in "pack style," or short track speed skating, where several skaters race on the ice at once. Blair finished 0.36 seconds ahead of the second best time in the 500 meters. [31], In her second event, the 1,500 meters, Blair finished 21st. Blair would in later years recall that first Olympic gold medal victory as the high point of her career. (b. [7], She is a member of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. Blair was born on March 18, 1964, in Cornwall, New York, the youngest of six children. Who are Scott disick parents? She has five siblings. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. "Blair Has a FlairFor Gold." As a teenager Blair began to take the sport more seriously. She embarked on a whirlwind travel schedule in Europe, taking on the world's best. After the Albertville games ended, Blair again took the opportunity created by her celebrity. Blair's success came despite the fact that she was smaller and lighter than an average female speed skater. She received 5 gold medals and one bronze over her profession. Priestner had been a speed skater since her teen years, winning a national championship within a year of taking up the sport. . Blair won the World Sprint Championships, then retired on March 18, 1995, after the competition held on her home ice in Milwaukee. 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. When Bonnie Blair was born on 9 August 1914, in Letcher, Kentucky, United States, her father, William Blair, was 31 and her mother, Delia Pratt, was 35. [26] Blair again won gold in the 500 meters, becoming the first woman to win the event in back to back Olympics, with a time of 40.33 seconds. [28] Blair was back to competing later in the season and won the 1989 World Sprint Championships held in Heerenveen, Netherlands. By the time Blair was fifteen, she decided to make speed skating her sole sport, training in a vigilant and dedicated fashion. [2] Blair's family friends in the stands, affectionately known as the "Blair Bunch," became a staple of her competitive career. Also, Jack Sikma, a Her death was announced in a statement that. Blair had more success in 1984, making the U.S. women's speed skating team for the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. 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. She first gained acclaim by winning the world short-track title in 1986 at Chamonix, France. Blair said she quit because there was nothing left for her to prove. [19] Although Blair was four inches shorter than Enke-Kania, Blair's technique and fast start time made her a formidable competitor. In 1986, Blair set her first world's record in the 500 meters. Another problem for Blair was the lack of competition among the American women speed skaters in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Encyclopedia.com. The . Before Priestner, Blair only competed in short-track, pack-style racing. Her stellar performance at the 1992 Olympics also earned Blair the Sullivan Award as the Best Amateur Athlete in the United States. All of Blair's two sisters and three brothers speed skated competitively because of their father. Wife of William Edgar Blair. American speed skater Bonnie Blair won six medals competing in three Winter Olympics Games, the second most medals won by a woman in the Winter Olympic Games (the first was Lydia Skoblikova ). Learn How rich is She in this year and how She spends money? [5]:44 Confidence in coach Crowe had waned in the lead up to the 1988 Olympics, Blair helped to recruit Peter Mueller to coach the U.S. team. By the time she was in grade school, speed skating had become her number-one leisure activity. In 1979 she began training with Cathy Priestner, a Canadian speed skater who had won a silver medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Although Ye claimed the crossover cost her the gold, the referee's rejected China's protest. [42] As of 2002, Blair served on U.S. Speedskating's board of directors. She was the daughter of Charlie and Eleanor Blair, who raised their large Catholic family in Champaign, Illinois. Bonnie Blair, 68 passed away unexpectedly at her home on Thursday Oct 24,2019. She received help from the local Champaign community. Now a world-class speed skater, Blair went on to set a world speed skating record in 1987, racing 500 meters in 39.43 seconds. team. [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. Siblings. Christensen, Karen, et al., eds. "One-woman ice show." [29] After placing fourth at U.S. Nationals and missing the opportunity to compete at the World Championships, Blair opted to give up competitive cycling and focus solely on speed skating. She has been inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Blair was born on March 18, 1964, in Cornwall, New York, the youngest of six children. Blair would also hold a number of world's and American records over the course of her speed skating career. I just want to go fast. Wolff, Alexander. [7][9], Blair made her international competitive debut at the 1984 World Sprinting Championships where she placed tenth. By those 10 1/2 inches, 23-year-old Bonnie Blair did what Mary Lou Retton didn't have the chance to do in gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles: defeat the world's best. American speed skater It's fun to set goals, reach goals, reset goals. [48][49], Blair began dating fellow Olympic speed skater Dave Cruikshank in 1990. Ye Qiaobo was expected to challenge Bonnie Blair in Calgary's 1988 Olympic . [21][22] Blair was considered a stronger competitor in the shorter distances, where she was seen as the United States' best chance at a gold medal in speed skating. 2. After the Olympics, Blair continued her education, studying physical education at Montana Tech University. At the Olympic Games, Blair had the support of her family, the so-called "Blair Bunch" which consisted of immediate and extended family members who attended a number of her more important races en masse. She also tried her hand at gymnastics for a while. [18], Early in 1987, Blair won World Cup titles in the 500 and 1,000 meters. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures, Skoblikova, Lydia "Skating first." Cloud State Men's Hockey @SCSUHuskies_MH . By the time she was four years old, Blair was racing, and she loved it, competing against her older brothers and sisters and others in elementary and junior high school. "Blair, Bonnie When the gun goes off, I don't worry about the person next to me. Bonnie Blair President: V B S, INC: Ste 105-148, Gilbert, AZ 85297 3733 E Janelle Ct, Gilbert, AZ 85297: Bonnie Blair President, Chief Executive Officer: Happy Helpers Inc Help Supply Services: 137 N Main St, Fairport, NY 14450 54 West Ave, Ste 2, Fairport, NY 14450 (585) 425-2680: Bonnie B. Blair Principal: Bonnie Blair Massage Misc Personal . For the American actress Bonnie Blair Brown, see, Early career and first Olympics (19841986), Rise and becoming an Olympic medalist (19871989), List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event, "ESPN Classic - Blair is special but she doesn't know it", "Champaign's Bonnie Blair is, Quite Simply, Just a Good Skate", "Retiring at Top Speed; With Blair, Winning Comes First, Then the Party", "Parkland College Alumni Association - Notable Alumni Stories", "Coach Gets U.s. Speedskating Team Off Thin Ice", "Washingtonpost.com: Blair Wins 1,000, Sets Gold Record for U.S. Women", "Bonnie Blair shares the experience of her first Olympic Games, the ones in Sarajevo - Sarajevo Times", "World Cup Speed Skating: Bonnie Blair Derails East German Sweep", "Short-track Speedskating Long On Thrills", "Biographies & Statistics: 500m Ladies World Record Progression", "Blair, Jansen Top Speed Skaters in 500 for Second Night in Row", "Olympic Speed Skating Trials: Mary Docter Earns Spot on U.S. She also won two gold medals at the '92 . Blair dedicated her gold medal to her father, Charlie, who had died from lung cancer two years earlier. After the 1994 Olympics, Blair received more honors and product endorsement offers. 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. Winning doesn't always mean being first. As Jere Longman wrote in the New York Times, "Blair has no mountains to climb. She soon regained her form and confidence, winning dozens of 500- and 1,000-meter races leading up to the 1992 Olympics. Newsday (February 6, 1994): 16. In 1989, she won the World Sprint Championships, though she did not train as hard as she had for the Olympics. places to practice were in Europe. Bonnie Blair. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/blair-bonnie. "Bonnie the blue." Bonnie Blair is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Achieving Your Personal Best.
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