Winter Olympics Day 14: Canada facing uphill battle in men’s hockey, trails Finland 1-0 without captain Sidney Crosby

Bonnie Blair finished her Winter Olympic career with five gold medals and one bronze, not bad for an athlete who never really thought about competing at a Games.

In her early career, Blair focused more on short track speed skating which at the time wasn’t an Olympic event but all that changed after watching Eric Heiden make history in the 1980 Games, winning a record five gold medals.

Blair then started to focus on long track skating.

“I wasn’t even envisioning going to the Olympics. It really wasn’t until watching the 1980 Games and I was like ‘Well, that’d be kind of cool to go to the Olympics,’” she told CNN Sports.

“Making it for the first time in 1984, I really felt like a kid in a candy store. It was an amazing experience, and if they had videos back then, you might have thought I won. I thought if I got anywhere near 10th or 12th, that would have been really good, and I placed eighth. It was super exciting.”

Over the next three Games, Blair became one of the best and most dominant skaters of her generation.

All the memories from her career come flooding back, she said, whenever she watches another athlete win gold.

“For sure, different things stick out in my mind at the different Olympics. But you know, when I look back, I never envisioned winning five gold medals and a bronze,” she added.

“In the beginning, it was just nice to be there. Then once you get there, you’re like, ‘Oh, it would be kind of cool to win,’ so it was, like, little stepping stones. Just a lot of great memories.”