Henning, Anne
Speed Skating
b. Sept. 6, 1955, Raleigh, NC
A great sprinter, Hennig won the 500-meter event in both the world championships and the world sprint championships in 1971 and she was the Olympic gold medalist in 1972.
She entered the Olympics holding world records in both the 500- and 1000-meter. In the 500-meter race, she was paired with Sylvia Burka of Canada. At the cross-over point where the skaters change lanes, they were about to have a collision when Hennig slowed to let Burka cross. She probably lost a full second, yet skated an Olympic record 43.70.
Burka was disqualified and Henning was allowed another attempt. Skating alone, she improved her time to 43.33 seconds. The second run may have hurt her chances in the 1000-meter, however; she won the bronze medal in that event and said afterward that her legs felt "dead."