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Jeanne Ashworth is 71 and hasn't put on skates in years.
"I don't skate anymore," she says from her home in New York's Adirondacks. "I've been so busy. When you're young and you're strong, you take it for granted."
Fifty years ago, on Feb. 20, 1960, as she toed the starting line of the 55-meter race at Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., Ashworth was plenty young and plenty strong.
Exactly 46.1 seconds later, Ashworth -- four years after graduating from Wilmington High School -- became the only Wilmington resident to win an Olympic medal and the first female American to earn an Olympic speedskating medal.
"I remember I was kind of on a magic carpet," she said. "About 10 seconds from the finish, I kind of hesitated and struggled to the end. It took about two-tenths of a second off."
The winner, Helga Haase of Germany, finished in 45.9 seconds. The silver medal went to the Soviet Union's Nataliya Donchenko, who was clocked at 46.0 seconds.
Ashworth proudly left with the bronze medal. She admits she thinks about how close she came to winning the gold "once in awhile."
"It was the difference between gold and bronze," she said.
Ashworth enjoyed a memorable 1960 Olympics. She was the top American in all four races. In addition to winning the bronze in the 500, she took eighth in the 1,000 and 3,000, and claimed 11th in the 1,500.
Ashworth has a daughter and two grandchildren who live in Stockbridge. She dropped her married name, Walker, and returned to being Jeanne Ashworth after Micky, her husband of 15 years, passed away.
Ashworth wasn't done competing against the world's best, as she represented the United States at two more Olympics, the 1964 Games in Innsbrook, Austria, and the 1968 Games in Grenoble, France.
"She was like a rock star coming back to Wilmington," said Jack Cushing, 56, a lifelong Wilmington resident who was taught to skate by Ashworth. "She was a big deal. She was such a...