Mary Docter

Mary Docter was 30 before she found the right word to describe herself. It was not any of those proud, chest-swelling words that come with being a three-time Olympian, words such as athlete, hero or role model. It was addict.

More than a year after U.S. speedskater Mary Docter went clean, she came clean with the media last December about her dependency on alcohol and marijuana. Now, the four-time Olympian wishes that she had kept it to herself. "I've been so mutilated by a lot of articles," she said. The most recent was published by Bill Clinton's favorite tabloid, the Star, which she read here Saturday night.

More than a year after U.S. speedskater Mary Docter went clean, she came clean with the media last December about her dependency on alcohol and marijuana. Now, the four-time Olympian wishes that she had kept it to herself. "I've been so mutilated by a lot of articles," she said. The most recent was published by Bill Clinton's favorite tabloid, the Star, which she read here Saturday night.

Mary Docter was 30 before she found the right word to describe herself. It was not any of those proud, chest-swelling words that come with being a three-time Olympian, words such as athlete, hero or role model. It was addict.

To earn a place on her fourth Olympic speedskating team, Mary Docter tried a different approach from the one she used four years ago. She trained. It worked. Docter, 30, was third Friday night in the second of two 1,500-meter races in the U.S. trials at the Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink and finished second overall to Bonnie Blair of Champaign, Ill. Tara Laszlo of St. Paul, Minn., was second Friday night and third overall.

Mary Docter, who gave up speed skating after consecutive sixth-place finishes in the 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympics, won a spot on the 1988 team Saturday night. Docter, who was working in a Madison, Wis., restaurant, began training seriously only one month ago but skated to a first-place finish in the 3,000 meters in 4 minutes 45.02 seconds. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but now I'm psyched up to see what I can do," Docter said.

Five UCLA professors have received $1,000 Distinguished Teaching Awards in ceremonies sposored by the UCLA Alumni Assn. The professors are Lawrence W. Bassett, radiological sciences; E. Bradford Burns, history; Kenneth W. Graham Jr., law; Howard Suber, theater, film and television, and Richard A. Yarborough, English. Awards of $740 were given to teaching assistants Mary Docter, Karin Hamm-Ehsani, Linda Long, Peter Antony Master and John Quackenbush.

Nancy Swider-Peltz became America's first four-time Olympic speedskater, winning the final 1,000-meter heat Sunday night at the U.S. time trials. Swider-Peltz, who gave birth to a child only 11 months ago, grabbed the final women's spot with a time of 1:28.94, giving her fourth place overall in the 1,000. Swider-Peltz's victory also marked the first time in nine weekend sprints Bonnie Blair failed to finish first.

They wear different uniforms, march behind a different flag and hum to a different anthem, but the women who competed for reunified Germany in the opening day of the Winter Olympics speedskating competition looked a lot like the East Germans who have dominated the sport for a decade.

To earn a place on her fourth Olympic speedskating team, Mary Docter tried a different approach from the one she used four years ago. She trained. It worked. Docter, 30, was third Friday night in the second of two 1,500-meter races in the U.S. trials at the Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink and finished second overall to Bonnie Blair of Champaign, Ill. Tara Laszlo of St. Paul, Minn., was second Friday night and third overall.

Mary Docter, who gave up speed skating after consecutive sixth-place finishes in the 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympics, won a spot on the 1988 team Saturday night. Docter, who was working in a Madison, Wis., restaurant, began training seriously only one month ago but skated to a first-place finish in the 3,000 meters in 4 minutes 45.02 seconds. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but now I'm psyched up to see what I can do," Docter said.

Competing in her fourth Winter Olympics, U.S. speedskater Mary Docter of Madison, Wis., finished 17th in her final event, the 5,000 meters. Last week, she had two 15th places in the 1,500 and the 3,000. Yet, the recovering alcoholic said that she had a great Olympics because she maintained her sobriety. "I was a wreck after the 3,000," she said. "I bombed out, and I was sad for a couple of days. Before, I would have gone out and gotten trashed. But I'm now happy with myself and can handle it.

A few weeks before the 1988 Winter Olympics, Tom Cushman was removed from the U.S. speedskating team in the 500 meters, although he had finished third at the trials. When Cushman, whose father, William, was a member of the U.S. International Speed Skating Assn.'s board of directors, threatened to sue, the skater was awarded a place on the team in the 1,000 meters, although he had finished sixth in that event at the trials.