SPEEDSKATING / WORLD SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS : A Good Day for Blair and Her Heir

Home-ice advantage gave five-time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair an insurmountable edge Saturday--and it furthered Christine Witty’s efforts to make a name for herself.

Blair, who trains with Witty at the Pettit National Ice Center, opened defense of her world sprint speedskating title by setting track records in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races. Witty, who is from nearby West Allis, finished second in the 1,000 to grab fourth place in the overall standings entering today’s final 500- and 1,000-meter races.

“I’ve never had such a big, strong hometown crowd rooting for me, so this is different,” said Blair, whose imminent retirement brought out about 300 bell-ringing, flag-waving members of the “Blair Bunch” to see her final races on American ice. “But it seemed to work for me today, and I hope it works tomorrow.”

Her time in the 500 was 39.13 seconds, slower than the world-record 38.69 she skated last Sunday at Calgary but swifter than she thought possible at a lower altitude.

“It was a strong, solid race for me,” Blair said. “I made a couple of mistakes, and I felt like when I crossed the finish line . . . maybe I could have gone a little faster. I was surprised at the time. I didn’t know if I could go that fast on this ice.”

As in the 500, Blair broke her own track record in winning the 1,000 in 1:19.43. Witty, 19, was timed in 1:20.75. After finishing second and third in two 1,000-meter races last week at Calgary, Witty is being touted as Blair’s heir. She dislikes the label, but her success guarantees it will stick.

“I would like to be known as Chris Witty, not the next Bonnie Blair, but if that’s the way people want to know me, I could care less,” said Witty, who finished ninth in the 500 with a time of 40.43 seconds.

“I have a lot of family and friends here, and it’s always an advantage over the rest of the world because we train here every day. The ice was better than it’s ever been.”

The support for the Americans rattled Susan Auch of Canada, who defeated Blair in a 500-meter race last Saturday at Calgary and pushed Blair to her world record the next day in clocking a time of 38.94 seconds.

The only two women who have skated the 500 in under 39 seconds, they generated a buzz from the crowd as they approached the starting line as the first pair Saturday. But while Blair covered the first 100 meters in 10.49 seconds, Auch slipped and couldn’t catch up.

Auch finished third in 40.09 seconds, behind Blair and Oksana Ravilova of Russia, who clocked a personal-best 39.89. Overall, Auch is seventh. Franziska Schenk of Germany, who was fourth in the 500 and third in the 1,000, is second overall and Ravilova is third. Standings are determined by adding skaters’ times in each event. The lowest after two days wins.

The American men didn’t fare as well. Their best result came from Casey FitzRandolph, a 15th-place tie in the 500 meters with a time of 37.16 seconds. FitzRandolph is 17th in the overall standings.

Kim Yoon-Man of Korea leads the overall standings on the strength of his track-record 1:12.84 in the 1,000.