Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994 TAG: 9402200073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: HAMAR, NORWAY LENGTH: Medium
After the emotional gold-medal ceremony for speedskater Dan Jansen 24 hours earlier, Bonnie Blair's victory Saturday might have seemed routine. After all, it was the fourth for her in the past three Olympics, the third straight in the same event, the 500 meters.
Although she later got a congratulatory call from President Clinton, who said, "You're really making us look good over there," even her raucous fans from around the world were muted, humming a ho-hum version of her theme song, "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean."
But it obviously was not routine for Blair as she stood on the highest level of the podium, tears welling in her eyes, and sang along as the national anthem was played.
"It's never routine, let me tell you," she said later. "Once you think it's routine, that's when it's going to be taken away from you quicker than you can think. It was very special to be up there, seeing my family in the stands and hearing the national anthem."
In winning, Blair, 29, carved a piece of history out of the fast track inside the Olympic Hall. Not only has no other speedskater ever won at the same distance in three straight Olympics, only one other athlete, Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie, has ever won the same individual event in three straight Winter Games. She won the women's gold medal in 1928, '32 and '36.
Blair also tied diver Pat McCormick, track sprinter Evelyn Ashford and swimmer Janet Evans as the U.S. women Olympians with the most gold medals (four), and she will move into a class by herself if she defends her 1,000-meter title Wednesday. She also will skate in the 1,500 meters Monday and is considered a medal contender.
"I really didn't think about the history part of it until the whole thing was over with," Blair said. "If you think about a medal or this record or that, you lose perspective of what you're out to accomplish."
Asked what she thought when the 500 was over, she said, "I haven't had too much time to think about it."
Although Blair has been winning consistently on the World Cup circuit this season, she was not the overwhelming favorite. South Korea's Yoo Sun-Hee set the track record of 39.65 in a December race in which she beat Blair.
Skating in the third pair, Blair bested that time with her 39.25, but it was apparent from her subdued reaction that she was not comfortable. Franziska Schenk, a 19-year-old German, had beaten her previous personal record by more than seven-tenths of a second with her 39.70 in the previous group, and Blair took that as an indication that the track was faster than usual.
As it turned out, Schenk just had a very good day, good enough to win the bronze medal. The only woman to come within four-tenths of a second of Blair was Canadian silver-medalist Susan Auch, who finished in 39.61.
When Yoo was clocked in 39.92 to end up in fifth place, Blair finally allowed her coach, Nick Thometz, to congratulate her with a hug.
Not much later, she was in the bleachers, celebrating with the 60 relatives and friends who had traveled from the United States to see her compete. They wore matching gold lame baseball caps and sweat shirts that said, "Go, Bonnie, Gold."
by CNB