THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602110246
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
The golden pond under Bonnie Blair's skates has been replaced by a chunk of ice on the ring finger of her left hand.
The engagement diamond she received in December is tasteful, but large enough to accommodate a Zamboni.
The big day is June 23, she tells a visitor to her Virginia Beach hotel room. That's when she'll marry Dave Cruikshank, a three-time U.S. Olympic speedskater.
``He hopes to compete in the '98 Games,'' Blair said Saturday, folding herself into an overstuffed sofa.
As befits an Olympic icon and the only American woman with five gold medals, Blair was comfortably quartered in the presidential suite. Later, she would speak at the 5th annual Hampton Roads Woman's Show at the Pavilion.
``One of the little perks,'' she said brightly, looking around the large living room. ``I've definitely been spoiled. As long as there's a bed and a TV that works, I'm all right.''
This is what one expects to hear from a reluctant legend. No one of her celebrity and accomplishment could be more unassuming, genuine or cheerful than bonnie Bonnie Blair.
``At certain points,'' she said, ``I go, `Golly, look what I've done.' But then I come back to earth real fast. I'm like anybody else. You've always got to do your laundry.''
Her final day of speedskating competition was last year, on her 31st birthday. She first stood on skates 29 years ago. At four, she already was competing.
``Sometimes,'' she recalled, ``I'd need a nap and I'd miss my race. My mother just said, `Let her sleep.' ''
What about today? Is she on the ice much?
``If I am, it's just sort of for fun,'' she said.
There are not a lot of rinks in airports and hotels. These are the places she spends her time while fulfilling obligations to J.C. Penney and other companies. She delivers inspirational speeches ``to everything from school kids to corporate executives.''
All that is wrapped up in the Olympic ideal - dedication, discipline, success and joy - is what Blair tries to ``take out on the road with me.''
Still, she doesn't sound like somebody who intends to make this a second career.
``After the Summer Olympics, my name is definitely going to go downhill,'' she said, her voice as sunny as the late-morning light streaming through the 12th-story window.
``I go home to Milwaukee and I'm normal again,'' she said. ``I like the normalcy, but I might as well take advantage of the situation. I hope when things settle down to get into the coaching end.''
What would it take, one wonders, to produce another speedskater as great and lasting as Bonnie Blair? Recalling how her long strides ate up the ice, you pictured somebody larger.
``Five-foot-four-and-a-half, maybe,'' she volunteered. ``Roughly 130 pounds.''
While less imposing than a lot of world-class women skaters, she won gold medals in three Olympics - one at Calgary in 1988, two at Albertville in 1992, and two at Lillehammer in 1994.
``I was more known as a technician skater,'' she explained.
Is this all she wants to reveal about her athletic gifts and superior competitive instincts?
She fell silent for a few seconds. Finally, she laughed and said, ``I don't know. It's probably better I don't think about it too much.''
Perhaps too much is happening in her world to leave time for pondering. Wednesday, she flies to Holland to try her hand at TV analysis for ABC's coverage of the World Sprint Championships. The appearance will remind her that she still craves competition.
``I miss everything that goes with it,'' she said. ``I miss my friends from America's side. I miss my friends from the foreign side.''
But the desire for normalcy is always there, too.
``I still love the sport,'' Bonnie Blair said. ``But now it is time to go on with the rest of my life.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Olympic icon Bonnie Blair: ``I'm like anybody else. You've always
got to do your laundry.''
by CNB