Blair continued competing through 1995 when the World Championships were held in Milwaukee, finally retiring in March 1995.

[3] Early on, Blair competed in "pack style," or short track speed skating, where several skaters race on the ice at once.

[3] To finance the expense of training in Europe, the Champaign Policemen's Benevolent Association began helping to sponsor Blair.

[7][9] Blair made her international competitive debut at the 1984 World Sprinting Championships where she placed tenth.

[14] After the 1984 Olympics, Blair worked closely with coach Mike Crowe to improve her skating skills to compete with the powerful East German skaters.

[15] In May 1985, at a time when U.S. speed skating lacked unity, U.S. International Speedskating Association replaced national team coach Dianne Holum with Mike Crowe.

[20] Blair also proved she could beat East-German world champion Karin Enke-Kania in head-to-head match-ups.

[21][22] Blair was considered a stronger competitor in the shorter distances, where she was seen as the United States' best chance at a gold medal in speed skating.

[23] U.S. speed skating failure to win a single medal at the 1984 Olympics added to the pressure and attention focused on Blair leading up to the 1988 games.

[24] Blair responded to the challenge with her best start ever in the 500 meters, winning the gold medal in world record time of 39.10 seconds.

[2][25] For her second event of the games, Blair had a personal best and briefly set an Olympic record in the 1,000 meters.

[27] Holding Blair back from more advertisements was both her choice of sports, which was thought to be less marketable, and ABC's coverage of the games, which failed to resonate with viewers.

[28] Blair was back to competing later in the season and won the 1989 World Sprint Championships held in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Cycling became part of Blair's speed skating training as both sports utilized the same muscle groups.

She made her competitive cycling debut in June 1989 at the Sundance Juice Sparkler Grand Prix.

[29] After placing fourth at U.S. Nationals and missing the opportunity to compete at the World Championships, Blair opted to give up competitive cycling and focus solely on speed skating.

[31] Although she had won gold at the prior Olympics, Blair felt that her small stature made her an underdog against much larger East German competitors.

Her winning time was slower than her record setting pace in Calgary, however, the venue in Albertville was outdoors creating conditions which were less conducive for speed skating.

The second-place finisher, Ye Qiaobo of China, claimed to have been slowed down by an improper crossover from another skater.

Blair dedicated her gold medal to her father, Charlie, who had died from lung cancer two years earlier.

[5]: 45  Blair also began to pick-up more endorsements, including sports marketing group Advantage International.

[5]: 45  After the Olympics, Blair moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to train at the newly opened Pettit International Ice Center.

[34][35] At the 1993 World Sprint Championships, Blair did not win any of her four races finishing behind rival Ye Qiabo.

[34] Blair felt as though she had lost her quickness and after failing to rectify the problem with coach Peter Mueller, she switched to Nick Thometz.

After fellow speed skater Johann Olav Koss founded Right to Play in 2000, he recruited Blair to serve as one of the charities first celebrity ambassadors.

[47] She was awarded a star (#7) on The Flag for Hope on September 29, 2015, in recognition of her outstanding speed skating career and philanthropic efforts.

[53][44] Blair's daughter competed at the 2018 United States Olympic speed skating trials at the 500 meter distance, held at Pettit National Ice Center.