Ap Selects Blair Top Female Athlete After Golden Year

At first, Bonnie Blair dreamed of going to the Olympics. Then, she dreamed of winning a speedskating medal. Last winter in Lillehammer, she became the first American to win the same event in three consecutive Winter Games.

“Before, people wanted to know why I kept going. Now, people are asking why am I going to stop,” she said.

On Tuesday, just before leaving for one of the final races of her career, in Davos, Switzerland, she was named The Associated Press 1994 Female Athlete of the Year.

Blair, who won five gold medals and a bronze medal in three Winter Olympics, is the first speed skater to receive the award.

Blair won her fifth overall gold medal at the Lillehammer Games in February after dominating the sport for nearly a decade. She won the overall gold medal in the 1994 World Sprint Championships and holds the world record in the 500 meters.

“I’ve had a pretty big year,” Blair said. “What I’ve gotten out of the sport is way more than I’ve ever dreamed.”

Blair was a big winner in the AP voting by writers and broadcasters. She received 86 first-place votes and a total of 492 points, far ahead of figure skater Oksana Baiul’s 15 first-place votes and 172 points.

Tennis player Steffi Graf was third with 110 points and figure skater Nancy Kerrigan and track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee tied for fourth with 79 points.

Top athletic awards have been piling up for Blair since February’s Games. The U.S. Olympic Committee on Monday named her its Sportswoman of the Year. She won the 1994 Babe Zaharias Female Amateur Athlete Award in November, and Sports Illustrated named her its Sportswoman of the Year in December.