Mary Docter

Mary Docter competed in four Winter Olympics for the United States in speed skating. She actually retired for a bit after 1984 but came back in 1987 and made two more Olympic teams. This was all the more remarkable based on her later revelations, in which she admitted to substance abuse with alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine, which she blamed on her relatively poor performances in 1988. She went into rehab, however, and overcame that problem. Docter attended the University of Wisconsin, after playing both tennis and track in high school. She competed internationally at many events, including the World Cup circuit in 1988-89 and 1991-92. But she was also on US teams at the World Championships in 1979, 1981-84, 1989, and 1992 and at the World Sprints in 1989. Docter also competed at the 1980 World Junior Championships, where she won the 3,000 m distance and finished fourth overall. Docter’s sister, Sarah, also competed in speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Personal Bests: 500 – 42.79 (1989); 1000 – 1:23.10 (1989); 1500 – 2:06.56 (1989); 3000 – 4:25.96 (1989); 5000 – 7:37.00 (1988).