This text was prepared for you by
Laurel Averett and Sun Kim
seventh grade, Ligon Middle School
Bonnie Kathleen Blair was born in Cornwall, New York, in the year of 1964. She grew up in Champaign, Illinois. Blair is the youngest of six children. She has been supported all the way by her boyfriend, Cruikshank.
Blair got the nick-name "Blur" from what you see watching her skate. The name has and will stick with her. Bonnie "Blur" Blair was nationally known by the time she was sixteen. In 1984 Blair made the Olympic team as a speed skater, at the age of only twenty. Up to late 1987, the Blur held the world record for the 500-meter race. In the Winter Olympics of 1988, Bonnie Blair won her first two Olympic Medals, a gold and a bronze.
She is the only American to win more than one medal at the Winter Olympics in 1988. Blair became well known as well and well liked in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the place of the 1988 Olympics. She triumphed in the 500-meter race with a time of 39.1 seconds. She won two gold medals at Olympics, 1992 in Albertville, France. She won five gold medals and a bronze in the Winter Olympic Games. That's more gold medals in one year than any other American!
Bonnie Blair remains to be the first woman in any sport to win gold medals in consecutive Winter Olympics. Her speed skating, Though she had her record-breaking speed, B. K. Blair was never quite satisfied with her performence. Blair said in an interview after a record breaking race, "I was hoping I could have gone a little faster in the 500, but, hey, I'll take it." Winter Olympics records have led her to numerous commercial endorsements. With all of her talent, Blair has inspired many U. S. speed skaters-to-be. One of her admirers was Christine Witty, a youngster who won the 500 meter Junior Olympic race. Blair has a few idols of her own, such as Johann Olav Koss, the Norwegian speed skater and humanitarian.
Blair has decided to quit speed skating professionally. After she retired last year, Blair said she wishes to get married and have children. She does not want to cut off her skating altogether, however. Soon after having children of her own, Bonnie Blair wants to coach adolescent skaters. She also is following the path of many adults of her age. She wants to return to school to continue her education. Blair admits one thing for certain, "I'm definitely going to miss hearing the sound of that gun."
Eleanor Blair, Bonnie Kathleen Blair's mother, once said, " You wonder if it'll screw up the rest of her life. I mean, what does she do for an encore?" The answer to this question became clear, and as one reporter said in Sports Illustrated, Feb. 27, 1995, "Encores are for rock stars who don't know when to quit. Blair exits, as Sinatra once did, at the peak of her powers. Unlike Sinatra, Blair will never return." She knows that though she won't be back for more, the legend of the Blur will live on.
