VANCOUVER, B.C. — Apparently five Olympic gold medals and a bronze isn’t enough to score a ticket to the United States-Canada men’s hockey game.
Former long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair, impassive that Apolo Anton Ohno may soon be America’s most decorated Winter Olympian, is more concerned about scoring an elusive seat at the big game for her hockey-crazy 11-year-old son.
Alas, there are no extras to be had, not even for her.
“It doesn’t matter how many Olympic medals I have, I can’t get into USA-Canada!” she exclaimed.
Blair is all about family these days, but she says she’s filled with pride as Ohno attempts to surpass her medal count in the 1,000 meters on Saturday night.
Ohno matched Blair over the weekend when he took the silver in the short-track 1,500 meters. The final was a nailbiter, with Lee Jung-su of South Korea taking the gold medal after teammates Sung Si-bak and Lee Ho-suk crashed into one another on the final turn. That gave Ohno the silver and teammate J.R. Celski his bronze.
Ohno has two medals of each color, surpassing Eric Heiden as the most decorated American male at the Winter Games. He’s also earned the most short track medals since the sport joined the Olympics in 1992.
Blair won a gold medal in the 500 meters, as well as a bronze in the 1,000, at the 1988 Calgary Games. She added golds in the 500 and 1,000 at both Albertville in 1992 and Lillehammer in 1994.
“In my sport, it is very, very difficult to come to back-to-back Olympic Games and medal,” Ohno said after matching Blair. “Rarely does it happen because the field is so deep and the talent is so strong. That proves to me that I’ve stood the test of time. I’ve been one of the top athletes in the world over and over again.”
Blair knew all along that her record would eventually fall, and she’s happy that a fellow speedskater broke it.
She hasn’t seen Ohno since December.
“I think it was right about that time they started drumming up all this hype up about it,” she said. “When I do see him, I’m definitely going to congratulate him. It’s awesome for him, and it’s awesome for the sport.”
She says the media definitely sees it as more of a big deal than she does.
“My sister said ‘They’re talking about you every other day on TV, it’s unbelievable. If people didn’t know you had the record then they do now!”’ she laughed.
Now 46, Blair lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Olympic speedskater Dave Cruikshank, and their children, Grant 11, and Blair, 9.
She was accompanied by her daughter to an event Tuesday at the USA House in Vancouver, a gathering point for the U.S. athletes and their families. Blair signed a huge chalk mural honoring American’s Winter Olympians by artist Tracy Lee Stum.
Neither of her children aspire at this point to follow in Blair’s footsteps. Her daughter prefers gymnastics and her son is all about hockey.
She remains active on the “political side” of her sport as a member of the board of USA Speedskating. And she’s still an exuberant and personable ambassador for the sport.
And, let’s face it, she still has the edge over Ohno when it comes to the color of their medals.
She joked: “Apolo’s going to have to keep skating so he can add more gold ones.”
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