Photograph by Michael O'Neill

"She stands as a 5'4", 130-pound rebuke to every sucker who said he would play the game for free but won't suit up for a cent less than $68 million; to every slob who complained of unwanted attention, then drove off with the vanity plates spelling out his nickname; and to every Just-Win-Baby boor, be he in the owner's box or the AD's office or the Little League dugout. Just win, baby, is about all she does, but that's not why she does it. Winning isn't everything, or the only thing, or necessarily anything."

"It's a pure and rather uncomplicated part of his nature: the desire to help others. It wasn't instilled in him by personal suffering, poverty, sermons or guilt. Both his parents are doctors, so that may have something to do with it. Whatever the source, the ties binding us to our fellow man are seemingly visible to Johann Olav Koss, as real as pain, more lasting than glory, strong as hemp, so that when he passes someone less fortunate than he, Koss reaches out instinctively. Hitch on. Follow me."

Text by Steve Rushin (Blair); E.M. Swift (Koss)
Issue Date: December 19, 1994

U.S. speed skater Bonnie Blair took home two gold medals from the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, raising her career total to five golds in three Olympics, and earning the distinction of most decorated female Olympian in U.S. history.

Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss, competing in front of his home crowd, earned three gold medals and set world records in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meter events. In addition to his athletic achievements, Koss is renowned for his work helping impoverished children worldwide as well as the physically handicapped in his own country.