Project Description

Bonnie Blair

Speed Skater Gold Medalist

Success under pressure is the measure of a true champion. There are numerous winners in the world of sports, but the celebrated athletes are the few who meet the challenge of pressure time after time. Bonnie Blair is undoubtedly celebrated as the speedskater who produces her best performances when it counts the most.

Blair made her Olympic debut at the 1984 Sarajevo Games, finishing eighth in the 500 meters. At the time, Blair trained in both short-track and long-track speedskating. She won the 1986 short-track world championship.

Blair returned to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, competing in long-track. There she won her first Olympic gold medal in the 500 meters in World Record time and a bronze medal in the 1,000 meters. Blair then won two gold medals in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and her final two Olympic gold medals at the 1994 Lillehammer games. This made her the first American to win back-to-back-to-back gold medals in a Winter Olympic event.

Blair continued competing through 1995 when the World Championships were held in Milwaukee. She finally retired in March 1995, on her 31st birthday, by setting an American Record in the 1,000 meters.

After retiring from speed skating, Blair became a motivational speaker. She has been inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, and the US Speedskating Hall of Fame.