(WORDS OF OLYMPIANS)
(BONNIE BLAIR)
For my first Olympics in Sarajevo,
just my mom and two of my sisters went there.
But when the Olympics were in Calgary in 1988,
some of my family members could drive.
One person wanted to go and then it added on
and next thing you knew, there was 25 members
of family and friends.
They all had the same... They called them paper jackets.
One of my sisters was in charge of that
and then everybody got one.
The media saw my family all dressed alike,
all up in the stands,
they're the ones that dubbed them The Blair Bunch.
(THE BLAIR BUNCH)
My dad's name was Charles P Blair Jr,
but everybody called him Chili.
My mom was Eleanor, my oldest brother's name
was Charles after my dad, but everybody called him Chuck.
Then there was my sister Mary, my sister Suzy,
my brother Rob, my sister Angela,
and I brought up the rear.
So six kids and two parents.
That's the core bunch and then there was
marriages, and then kids from marriages,
and cousins from out east,
my mom's brother, Uncle Lenny, he always went.
Yeah, it gets crazy.
I really think The Blair Bunch was ones
that kinda started hats and jackets
or sweatshirts or whatever to all look alike.
We kinda coined that.
I knew going to the starting line,
"If I'm gonna win this, I for sure have
"to go faster than I've ever gone before
"and set a world record."
My family, The Blair Bunch, had all been in one area
to watch the event, but for the award ceremony
they'd all kinda scattered in in different areas.
Just as I was about to get up on the podium,
looking at my different family members
and seeing this range of different emotions.
My sister Angela, she was crying.
My sister Suzy, just a big, huge grin on her face.
My brother Rob, high-fiving his best friend.
My sister Mary, yelling, screaming,
going absolutely nuts.
My mom looking still scared to death
as if I was still racing.
Seeing all those different emotions,
that's exactly what it feels like
to win an Olympic gold medal.
Everything at once.
(ALBERTVILLE, 1992)
In Albertville, France,
that number grew to 45 members
of The Blair Bunch.
But we had lost my dad
in 1989.
The first medal that I won in Albertville
I dedicated in his memory.
He was the one that put that little idea
in that young girl's head
that I could go to the Olympics.
He was always the one that took me
to the competitions.
He had a new co-worker of his and he introduced me to him
and he said, "This is my daughter Bonnie
"and she's gonna be in the Olympics
"and she's gonna win an Olympic medal."
I kinda remember looking at him like,
"Are you nuts?"
My dad was always a man of very few words
so for my dad to say that, it was just so out of context.
He was always a timer at the finish line
for every meet that I competed in.
And he was there in spirit.
(LILLEHAMER, 1994)
And then at my last Olympic games,
there were 60 members.
It's pretty crazy to think that they travelled
all that way, made all their own arrangements
to watch me compete in three races
that totalled less than six minutes.
That's mind-boggling.
This was gonna be my last Olympic race.
That race went beyond fantastic.
The thrilling and the excitement that I'd had
in five different times of being on that top podium,
this fifth one was a little bit different...
..because I'd knew I'd never do it again.
It was almost like a sad moment because
I knew it was the end.
I knew as far as the Olympics go,
I'm never gonna have this feeling
that I'm having right now.
I married one of my team-mates, Dave Cruikshank.
We were both in four Olympic games.
We overlapped in three.
There has to be something to be said for genes
because we have two kids, a son, Grant,
who plays hockey at a pretty high level,
my daughter Blair,
Blair Cruikshank not Blair Blair, she is 16.
She started speed skating just a couple of years ago.
I get goose bumps just thinking about it.
They're the light of my life
and I'm a great taxi driver.
Driving them from one event to another.
Especially in the winter time when the roads are real icy
you're like, "Oh, gosh, if I had my skates,
"I could just buzz right past these people."
I do like to drive fast.
I've kinda maybe gotten off once maybe they saw
my driver's license.
Speed is for sure in the Blair blood.
(BONNIE WON A CAREER TOTAL OF FIVE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS
(AND ONE OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDAL.)
(SHE IS THE ONLY WOMAN IN OLYMPIC SPEED SKATING HISTORY
(WITH A GOLD MEDAL "3-PEAT" (500M).)
(TODAY THERE ARE STILL OVER 50 ACTIVE MEMBERS
(OF THE BLAIR-CRUICKSHANK BUNCH.)