Bonnie Blair - The Explorer
SPEED SKATING - OLYMPIAN - TEAM USA
ARCHETYPE: THE EXPLORER
Day 98/135
Athletic Accomplishments
Simply put, Bonnie Blair is the most decorated American woman in Winter Olympic history. Winning six medals in speed skating—five gold medals and one bronze—Blair was an American Olympic hero in the late 80s and early 90s.
Even after Blair's Olympic career, she broke world records in the 500m, and then re-broke her own record—twice—at ages 30 and 31. Additionally, Blair boasts three World Championships, and was an 11-time World Cup points champion, Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year, AP Female Athlete of the Year, and U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer.
Character Archetype: The Explorer
While it'd be easy to dub Bonnie Blair as "The Hero" archetype for her wins record alone, her story is one of chasing speed skating glory across the country and then, later, the globe, more befitting of The Explorer character archetype. Blair learned to skate at age 2 and competed in her first meet at 4 (as one does in the great state of Illinois). But when Blair's training really got serious, she moved to Europe with her godmother, speed skating Olympian Cathy Priestner. Bold move, Priestner, let's see if it pays off.
Blair won five Olympic medals, her talent carrying her to podiums across the globe, including Canada, France, and Norway, and back again. In 2002, Blair served as one of the final torch bearers to carry the Olympic flame into the stadium when the United States hosted the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, an honor reserved for a country's most esteemed athletic heroes.
Like all good explorers and all happy endings, Blair found glory when she finally came home.
But her story does not conclude with just a happy ending, at least not on this blog. Blair recently made headlines for backing Wisconsin legislation to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s athletics. Wisconsin is one of 33 states looking to pass anti-trans legislation in 2021.
While much of this legislation poses as a means to protect girls’ and women’s sports from being overrun by athletes assigned male at birth (AMAB) participating and taking away opportunity for those assigned female at birth (AFAB), there is little or no evidence of that being… a thing. Instead, this legislation is simply making sports a place where trans kids and adults are excluded.
And sure, not everyone can or should make the Olympics. But surely, everyone can or should be able to participate in sports, no matter how they identify. So let’s stop overcorrecting for people’s discomfort with things that are different. Let the kids play.