Cathy Ann Turner (born April 10, 1962, in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

) is an American

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

, who won gold medals at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

and

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

. Turner was the American short-track champion in 1979, but short-trak speed skating was not then an Olympic discipline, and in 1980 she left skating to pursue a career as a singer. She sang in bands, shows and then began writing her own songs. She became a studio singer and songwriter under the stage name Nikki Newland. After short-track was exhibited at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

she decided to return to the sport. " After nine years away from her sports, she resumed training. She qualified for the Albertville Olympics, where she won the 500-meter short track race and was a member of the silver medal-winning 3000-meter relay team. Turner retired from competitive skating after the 1992 Games to star with the

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

as a singer and skater in the "Made In America" tour, but then returned yet again for the 1994 Games. She won another gold in the 500 meters in a controversial race in which silver medalist

Zhang Yanmei Zhang Yanmei (, born October 26, 1970) is a female PR China, Chinese Short track speed skating, short track speed skater. She competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics and in the 1994 Winter Olympics. Biography Zhang was born in Shulan, Jilin, China ...

accused Turner of grabbing her leg as Turner passed her, however, the judges did not see it that way. Turner was disqualified from the 1000-meter race when accused of impeding a South Korean skater Kim So-hee in a heat. She took a bronze in the 3000-meter team relay. Turner then placed fifth in the 3000-meter relay at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano. Turner now lives in Parma, New York and works as a Database Administrator at Paychex Inc., a motivational speaker, and a product spokesperson. She has also been a skating commentator for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Turner holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designa ...

, and is a contributor to the book ''Awaken The Olympian Within'', among others.

References

* Leigh Montville, "Fire on Ice", ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', March 7, 1994

External links

US Olympic Committee profile

Jim Kelley, "Turner out to clear her name", Sports Illustrated, Feb. 17, 1998

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20041213224641/http://www.usoc.org/11499_18781.htm Cathy Turner self-profile, US Olympic Committee site
Britannica Online article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Cathy Living people 1962 births American female short-track speed skaters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in short-track speed skating Olympic silver medalists for the United States in short-track speed skating Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in short-track speed skating Short-track speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics American color commentators Northern Michigan University alumni People from Parma, New York Sportspeople from Rochester, New York 20th-century American sportswomen