Inducted 1995

Bonnie Blair (born March 18, 1964) is a retired Olympic speed skater who competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning five gold medals and one bronze medal.  Blair was born in Cornwall, New York and raised in Champaign, Illinois; after high school she moved to the Milwaukee area to train with the United States national speed skating team.  She appeared at her first Olympic games in Sarajevo in 1984 finishing eighth in the 500 meters.  At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Blair won the gold in the 500 meters and bronze in the 1000 meters. Blair set the world record in the 500 meters by completing the event in 39.10 seconds.  She won gold in the 500 and 10000 meters at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. In the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Blair took home gold in both events again, becoming the first American woman to win five gold medals. After the 1994 Olympics, Blair set another world record in the 500 meters, becoming the first female to complete the race in less than 39 seconds (38.99). She soon retired on March 18, 1995. She won several prestigious awards, including the 1992 James E. Sullivan Award, ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, and Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. In 2004, she was elected into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.