Topics: International Speakers Bureau, Inc. |
Fee Range: $15,001 to $20,000 (fee note) |
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 Biography: Bonnie Blair, winner of five Olympic gold medals, is the most successful American athlete in the history of Olympic competition. She was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004 and is considered one of the top ten Winter Olympic atheletes of all time. The story of her birth, March 18, 1964, reads like a fairy tale. Bonnie's dad, father of five (with four being speed skaters), took his children to a meet in Yonkers, N.Y. where he was the timer for the event. While there, he heard the public-address announcer tell the crowd, "It looks like Charlie's family has just added a new skater". His wife had given birth to Bonnie who was to begin skating when she was just two years old and become the fastest U.S. speed skater who ever lived. Circling the globe, from Calgary to Albertville to Lillehammer, she has picked up souvenirs that no other woman in the United States has, namely five Olympic gold medals. No woman had ever won consecutive 500-meter speed-skating championships at the Olympics before Bonnie won three straight. Bonnie began her race in the 500-meter event of the 1988 Calgary Olympics immediately after her rival, Christa Rothenburger of East Germany, set a world record. Bonnie proceeded to skate the 500 meters faster than any woman had before, capturing the gold medal in a world record time of 39.1. (This record stood for five years, until March 1994, when, at the age of 30, Blair met her ultimate goal of shattering the 39 mark with a time of 38.99). Four years later, at the 1992 Albertville Olympics she defeated her nearest competitor, Ye Qiaobo of China, by 18 hundredth of a second. This victory made Blair the first woman in Olympic history to win consecutive gold medals in the event and the first American woman to win consecutive Winter Olympic gold medals. She made history again in the 1,000 meters, edging out Ye by just two hundredths of a second to win her second gold of the Games, and her fourth Olympic medal over all. In 1994, Blair skated in her final Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Supported by 60 plus members of "The Blair Bunch", Bonnie won gold medals in both the 500 and 1,000 meter events. By capturing her sixth career Olympic medal, Bonnie emerged as U.S. history's most decorated Winter athlete, as well as the record holder for the most gold medals (5) won by an American in any sport. As the United States Olympic Committee's Woman Speedskater of the Year from 1985 to 1992, Bonnie also captured the world record for overall points in the World Sprint Speed-Skating Championships in 1989 by defeating defending champion and former Olympic opponent, Christa Rothenburger of East Germnay. She eclipsed that mark at a World Cup event in Davos in January 1992, shortly thereafter, in Calgary in April 1992, and finally again in Galgary in January 1994. On her 3lst birthday (March 18, 1995) she had a personal best and set an American record with a 1:18.05 in the 1,000 meters. It was her last race. Now retired from skating, Blair, who married Olympic teammate Dave Cruikshank, is a motivational speaker to corporations and associations. She also donates her time to a variety of charities that she organizes through the Bonnie Blair Charitable Fund. |
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