Blogtober Day 30: Bonnie Blair

Fun fact: I've had the date of this post planned out since... well, since the idea of Blogtober took shape. Yet this is the post I'm scrambling to write so I can go to bed. Irony at its finest! Can't complain, though -- it was an epic night of final Halloween costume prep. But, uh, I apologize if this isn't my most eloquent post ever. It's kind of past my bedtime! :P

Man, Bonnie is basically in a class of her own among winter Olympians. It's kind of unbelievable.

She went to her first Olympics in 1984 when she was only 19 and finished eighth in the 500m. In 1988 she was back again, this time winning gold in the 500m and bronze in the 1,000m, setting a 500m world record in the process and becoming America's only double medalist at those Games. In 1992, she won gold in both the 500m and 1,000m. This made her the first woman to win two Olympic 500m titles and the first American woman to win consecutive winter Olympic championships.

But Bonnie was far from done, as she competed in a final Olympics in 1994. She won the 500m for a third straight time, a whole 36 hundredths of a second faster than the silver medalist. In her final Olympic race, the 1,000m, she destroyed the competition by a full 1.38 seconds, the largest margin in Olympic history for the event.

After the 1994 Olympics, Bonnie continued racing. In March of that year, she became the first woman to skate the 500m in under 39 seconds. She retired on her 31st birthday, in March of 1995, right after setting a new personal best and American record in the 1,000m in her final race ever. Talk about going out while you're on top!

As if all that wasn't enough, Bonnie also skated short track early on in her career, winning the 1986 Overall Short-track World Championship. Because why the heck not?

In her career, Bonnie won five Olympic gold medals and one bronze, making her the most decorated American Winter Olympian ever. That record stood until Apolo Ohno won his seventh and eighth medals in Vancouver 2010. But while Apolo has more medals in total, only two of them are gold. So if we want to talk about pure domination... Bonnie wins. She is by far one of the best sprinters ever.

Why was I planning on writing this post today, you ask? Well, yesterday Bonnie was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame, and I got to go! Just being in the same general breathing space as she was made the whole thing worth it! She talked about how she doesn't care that her kids don't speed skate, but that she wants them to love their chosen sport as much as she loved hers. She's completely adorable. :) The guy running the ceremony was basically fawning over her, and to be honest, I don't blame him at all!

One more day of Blogtober, guys! ONE. MORE. DAY.

Blogtober Day 23: Alberto Tomba

I took three things away from all those years of Italian classes in middle and high school: 1) the lingering urge to say "abbiamo finito" and "andiamo," 2) an excessive knowledge of Roberto Benigni's movies, and 3) this guy.

I discovered Alberto Tomba when my Italian teacher gave us an assignment to do on any famous Italian person we wanted. So, of course, I Googled "Italian Olympians" (or something of the sort) and his name popped up. I chose him for two reasons: he's one of Italy's most successful Olympians ever, and his nickname is Tomba la Bomba (Tomba the bomb). That might be my favorite sports nickname ever -- love the way it just rolls off the tongue!

Anyway, moving on from my high school reminiscences. Alberto was beating members of the national A team when he was still on the B team. He got onto his first podium in 1986, and then won bronze in the giant slalom at the 1987 world championships. Medals came fast and furious from there on; his first world cup came in slalom in 1987 before, two days later, beating his idol Ingemar Stenmark in the giant slalom for another gold medal. He won nine races in 1988, including two Olympic gold medals; in the first run of the giant slalom at the Olympics, he finished over a second faster than the next fastest competitor. That's basically an eternity. It was here that he was nicknamed Tomba la Bomba and became famous for his hard-partying ways. But more on that later.

Alberto won a gold and a silver medal at the 1992 Olympics, and another silver in 1994. In his career, he won nine season titles, won 50 races and finished on 88 podiums. He's the only male skier ever to have won at least one race per year for 11 straight seasons. He retired in 1998 at age 31 after his 50th world cup win, having not done well at the 1998 Olympics. But earlier this year, he said that he regrets retiring so young and could've kept racing for another Olympics or two. Imagine what he could've won had he continued!

So back to the hard-partying stuff... apparently his reputation was almost entirely fabricated. Of course, some media exaggeration had something to do with it, but Alberto apparently would go to sleep really early, wake up and go out for an hour at 2 a.m., and then go back to sleep. All in the name of image. Genius.

Alberto was at the top of the skiing world for a solid 12 years, which is a CRAZY long time to be the best at a sport. He's undoubtedly one of the best skiers ever.

And, seriously, Tomba la Bomba? I dare you to say it and not enjoy yourself!

Blogtober Day 19: Eddie Edwards

I promised I'd be back to tongue-in-cheek today, right? Well, it really doesn't get any more tongue-in-cheek than this fella. Really, I don't have to do any work at all with this one.

Oh Eddie. Y'know, for someone who's so famous for failure, he was actually kind of impressive. He was the first Brit to ever qualify for the Olympics in ski jumping and held the British ski jumping record (though I guess that's not really saying much...). He was also ninth in the world in amateur speed skiing, and a world record-holding stunt jumper (10 cars/six buses).

Eddie started out as a downhill skiier and almost qualified for the 1984 Olympics. When that didn't happen, he moved to Lake Placid to train but eventually ran out of money. So, to keep costs down and his Olympic dream alive, he switched to ski jumping. He had to wear six layers of socks to make his boots fit; he was 20 pounds heavier than any of his competitors; he was so farsighted that he had to wear his glasses at all times (even though they fogged so badly while he was skiing that he couldn't see anything anyway); and he was entirely self-funded. He competed in the 1987 World Championships and ranked 55th in the world, which qualified him for the Olympics. How? Lol I'm pretty sure no one really knows. When he found out about his qualification, Eddie was working as a plasterer and living in a Finnish mental hospital because he couldn't afford to live anywhere else (not as a patient, though how great a story would that be?!) Talk about a regular guy, huh?

At the 1988 Olympics, Eddie competed in both the 70m and 90m events... and finished dead last in both. But hilariously, the worse he did, the more popular he became. People loved him. He became one of those endearing "plucky underdogs" or "heroic failures," and is still somewhat of a celebrity figure in the U.K. In 2008 he was invited back to Calgary to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Olympics there, and he rode the zip-line at Olympic park with a member of the Jamaican bobsled team (YESSSSS). And when the Olympics came to Vancouver in 2010, Eddie was a torchbearer.

Is that not the greatest? Because I'm pretty sure that's the greatest.

I think we can all relate to Eddie on some level. I mean, I personally am very acquainted with having an Olympic-sized dream and being low on funds. Can't say I've ever lived in a Finnish mental hospital though, but that's beside the point. Eddie may have flopped at the Olympics (and then failed to qualify for them in 1992, 1994 and 1998), but hey, he got himself there and people adored him for it. That, my friends, is epic.

Eddie also became such a phenom that the sport of ski jumping was embarrassed by the mockery being made of it (seriously). So, in 1990, the IOC instituted the Eddie the Eagle Rule (seriously) which requires Olympic hopefuls to compete in international events and place in the top 30 percent or the top 50 competitors, whichever is fewer. In effect, Eddie prevented himself from qualifying from any future Olympics (seriously) and ensured that there'd never be a ski jumper like him at the Olympics ever again.

Between Eddie and the Jamaican bobsled team, I have to wonder if there was something in the water in Calgary or something. But considering it gave us bobsledders from a Caribbean island and a ski jumper that dropped like a stone, you won't see me complaining!

Blogtober Day 17: Dan Jansen

Dan Jansen's story is kind of the greatest. So, if you didn't know about him before right now, you. are. welcome.

Dan set eight speed skating world records during his career and competed marginally well at the 1984 Olympics, but pretty much everything is irrelevant until 1988. He became the World Sprint Champion and was the favorite to win gold in the 500m and 1,000m at the Olympics. But on the day of the 500m event, he got word that his sister Jane had died of leukemia. He decided to compete anyway, but fell on the first turn. Several days later, he competed in the 1,000m and fell about three quarters of the way through.

At the 1992 Olympics, Dan finished fourth and twenty-sixth in his two events. In 1993, he set a world record in the 500m and became World Sprint Champion again, and entered the 1994 Olympics as gold medal favorite. He finished eighth in the 500m but, defying all expectations, won the gold medal in the 1,000m, setting a new world record in the process. He dedicated his medal to his sister, and then took a lap with his one-year-old daughter, Jane. Oh god, it gets me every time. *sniffle*

The other American athletes voted that Dan carry the flag in the closing ceremony and he received the James E. Sullivan award for his athletic accomplishments and "strong moral character." Lol, well yes, this is appropriate.

Dan is one of THE American Olympians. Jesse Owens, Kerri Strug, Mike Eruzione, Dan Jansen, etc. He's one of those athletes that embodies everything the Olympics are about; the struggle, the failure, and the triumph over adversity. His performance transcends sports and becomes much more about the power of the human spirit than winning a medal.

Bet you weren't expecting me to get all deep on ya, huh? But here, let him tell you about it. Or take Morgan Freeman's word for it.

Like I said, you. are. welcome.

Blogtober Day 14: Katarina Witt

I used to watch a ton of ice skating when I was a kid, and Katarina was in all of those pro shows I loved so much. But I didn't realize what a big deal she is until really recently. Embarrassingly recently.

When she was a kid growing up in East Germany, she attended a school for athletically gifted children. Is that, like, the jock equivalent of being a nerd? Well, whatever. She trained like a fiend and got onto a major podium for the first time in 1982, and so began her reign of dominance. She won gold at every East German Championships from 1981-88, every European Championships from 1983-88, and at four World Championships from 1984-88. She won Olympic gold in 1984 and then defended her title in 1988.
After winning freaking EVERYTHING in 1988 (seriously, I'm not even exaggerating), Katarina went pro, which was super rare for an East German athlete back then. Y'know, socialism and all. She toured with several shows, even selling out Madison Square Garden for her show with Brian Boitano, and acted in the film Carmen on Ice, which she received an Emmy Award for. Hah. For real.

Katarina made a comeback to competitive skating in 1994 and managed to qualify for her third Olympics, where she placed seventh. Not bad for someone who'd been out of the game for six years!

Remember how I said Katarina won Olympic gold in 1984 and won it again in '88? She's one of two ladies' figure skaters ever to defend her Olympic title, and was the first to in about 50 years. The only other name on that list is Sonja Henie, who won in 1928, 1932 and 1936 and is by far one of the greatest figure skaters ever. Katarina and Sonja also happen to co-hold the record for consecutive European Championships won. Basically, Katarina is right up there with the best ever.
She was also something of a revolutionary, not only in her skating abilities but in her... uh, creative choices? She consistently pushed the boundaries by wearing costumes considered by many to be too sexy, and then posed for Playboy in 1998. I can't say I personally give this particular decision a thumbs-up, but Katarina has said that she wanted to change the perception of skaters as being "cute, pretty, ice princesses," which I definitely can support. Do your thang, gurl!   And finally, after the dissolution of East Germany, Katarina found Stasi files showing that the secret police busted their butts to keep her from defecting, giving her cars, accommodations and permitted travel. In total, there were 3,000 pages on her life dating back to when she was eight years old. How bizarre must that have been? (EspnW made a Nine for IX movie about her called The Diplomat, which I'm still DYING to see.) People called her "the most beautiful face of socialism."   And to think I just liked her for her skating. Sigh