Print and Go Back ESPN Classic [Print without images]  Monday,
January 21, 2002 Bonnie Blair wins second gold in 500 meters  By
Phillip Lee Special to  February 10, 1992  Heading into the 1992
Winter Olympics at Albertville, France, the question posed to
U.S. speed skater Bonnie Blair wasn't if she was going to
capture the 500 meters, but by how much.  In 1988 at Calgary,
Blair was one of two Americans to win gold medals. She captured
the 500 meters in world record time -- 39.10. It was the first
speed skating gold medal by an American woman since Sheila Young
in 1976.  In 1992, Blair didn't skate her best, but it was
enough. She skated the fastest time among 32 finishers in the
500-meter event, 40.33 seconds, to become the first American
woman to win gold medals in an event in consecutive Winter
Olympics and the first American to repeat as the winner of a
Winter Games event since 1952, when Dick Button defended his
men's singles title in figure skating.  China's Ye Qiaobo
finished second and Germany's Christ