A Winning Edge

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Summary: An Olympic Champion teaches Kids about how to Compete
Review: When the Olympic torch was making its way around the Olympic Stadium in Salt Lake City this month it was not surprising that at one point Bonnie Blair was one of the former Olympians to carry the torch. After all, Blair is the winningest U.S. athlete in Winter Olympic history and the winner of more gold medals than any other female U.S. Olympian as a speed skater. "A Winning Edge" was written by Blair for children, with whom she shares the sacrifices and victories that made her famous and her belief that the best motivation for speed skating or any other endeavor is doing it for love.

"A Winning Edge" tells the story of the Blair family, where Bonnie was the youngest of six kids. In fact, her father dropped off her mom at the hospital for Bonnie's birth and then took the rest of the family to a skating race. The book is filled with pictures from the Blair family album and illustrations by Doug Keith depicting Bonnie's key moments in Bonnie's life and skating career. Bonnie tells about how she joined her racing family on the ice, how she developed her training regimen, and how the police department in her hometown of Champaign, Illinois helped raise money for her to train in Europe. The results were Bonnie's success at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, the 1988 games in Calgary, the Albertville games in 1992, and the Lillehammer games in 1994. Bonnie provides not only memories about her races, but those of her longtime friend Dan Jansen.

This book is like reading a family photo album or scrapbook with Bonnie pointing out to you what everything means and how it was important in her life. Young readers dreaming of being an athlete will be inspired by her emphasis on the four key words that made Bonnie's own dreams come true: dedication, balance, risk and love. Older readers will enjoy finding out more about the young woman with the great smile we watched win all those gold medals on the ice all over the world.