Bonnie BLAIR

Bonne Blair began competing as a speed skater when she was four years old.

A new record and a gold medal

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, she watched as Christa Rothenburger broke the world record at 500m. Then she went out and bettered Rothenburger's time by two hundredths of a second to win her first gold medal. Blair also earned a bronze at 1,000m.

Defending her medal

In 1992 Bonnie defended her Olympic 500m championship and then took a third career gold medal at 1,000m. Her total margin of victory for these three wins was only 22 hundredths of a second.

Largest margin in 1,000m history

Two years later, Blair took part in her third Olympic Games. She repeated her victories at both 500m and 1,000m, but this time she won clearly, by 38 hundredths of a second at 500m and 1.38 seconds at 1,000m. The latter was the largest margin in the event's history.