Kristen Talbot

Kristen Talbot competed internationally in speed skating from 1986 to 1994. She appeared in three Winter Olympics and at the 1989 and 1990 World Junior Championships, as well as skating parts of the World Cup circuit for several years. Talbot was second in the 500 at the 1990 World Juniors and finished 10th overall at that meet, her best international finishes. She studied physical therapy at Skidmore College and Montana Tech. Talbot is best known for her altruism only one month prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Her brother, Jason, was quite sick with aplastic anemia, and Talbot donated her bone marrow to him in January 1994, in an attempt to reverse the course of the often fatal disease. The bone marrow transplant would lower her own hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, definitely affecting her ability to skate, but she did it with no worries.

Personal Bests: 500 – 40.72 (1993); 1000 – 1:23.02 (1993); 1500 – 2:14.09 (1990); 3000 – 4:54.87 (1990).