Bonnie Blair was a good judge of speedskating talent even before she was an Olympic champion. Chantal Bailey's high school yearbook proves that.
Blair was a year ahead of Bailey at Centennial High School in Champaign, Ill. Bailey, a figure skater as a teen, recently found her freshman yearbook, which included a note from Blair."And it says, `I'm really glad we got to be good friends. I really think you should become a speedskater. You'd be good at it," Bailey, 28, said after qualifying in three events for her first Olympics.
Bailey gave up figure skating at 18 and took up speedskating - at first just to get in shape - at 22. She qualified in the 1,000 meters Sunday at the U.S. Olympic trials, finishing second to Blair. Bailey also has qualified in the 1,500 - again second to Blair - and 3,000, in which she is the top American.
Bailey, who battled the eating disorder bulemia as a teen, is among seven U.S. skaters who have qualified for their first Olympics. She is joined by Chris Scheels, a high school junior from West Allis, Wis.; Chris Witty, also of West Allis; David Tamburrino of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Brendan Eppert of St. Louis, KC Bouttiete of Tacoma, Wash., and Brian Smith of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Along with Blair and men's medal hopeful Dan Jansen, other veteran Olympians to qualify are: Peggy Clasen of Roseville, Minn.; Michelle Kline of Circle Pines, Minn.; Kristen Talbot of Schuylerville, N.Y.; Angela Zuckerman of Whitefish Bay, Wis.; Nathaniel Mills of Evanston, Ill.; Brian Wanek of Mequon, Wis.; Dave Besteman of Madison, Wis., and Dave Cruikshank of Northbrook, Ill.
The trials ended Sunday.
Before her final 1,500 race of the trials Friday, Bailey found a few solitary moments to reflect on her career. She always wanted to be an Olympian, but she believed as a teen-ager that it would be in figure skating.
"I've been praying to be an Olympian since I was so small," Bailey said. "And I had given up. When I quit figure skating, I thought I'd never go to the Olympics, and I had accepted it and everything. Like I always tell people, God didn't forget my prayers. I did."
Blair proved again Sunday she is a strong favorite to medal in at least two events at the Olympic speedskating venue in Hamar, Norway. Blair set her eighth Pettit National Ice Center record in nine races during the trials, skating 1,000 meters in 1:20.46, .18 seconds faster than the mark she set last weekend.
"That gun goes off and I just want to go," Blair said. "It doesn't matter what kind of race it is, I just want to go as fast as I can."
Blair will be a favorite at 500 and 1,000 meters at the Games, and could be a medal contender if she chooses to compete in the 1,500. With one medal, she would become the most decorated American woman in Olympic history, breaking the mark of four medals she shares with diver Pat McCormick, swimmer Janet Evans and sprinter Evelyn Ashford.
"I realize what I've accomplished," Blair said, "but I don't want to get caught up in that."
Jansen also has qualified in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500. He, too, has yet to decide whether he will race the 1,500 in Norway, and he will be an Olympic favorite at 500 and 1,000 meters.
He set a world record of 35.92 for the 500 last month at a World Cup event at the Olympic venue.
Jansen didn't skate in Sunday's 1,000. His coach, Peter Mueller, said Jansen was avoiding interviews to keep his focus on Olympic preparation.
"He knows what he wants to do, and he's not going to change that," Mueller said.
Jansen will be trying to erase the painful memories of his past two Olympics. He fell in the 500 and 1,000 at the 1988 Games after his sister's death, and he finished fourth in the 500 and 26th in the 1,000 in 1992.
"We're not thinking about anything other than winning both races," Mueller said. "That's what he's been thinking all winter and all fall."