Eric Heiden

Last updated

Eric Heiden
Eric Heiden2.jpg
Heiden in March 2007
Personal information
Birth nameEric Arthur Heiden
NationalityAmerican
Born (1958-06-14) June 14, 1958 (age 65)
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education Stanford University (BS, MD)
Height6 ft 0+1⁄2 in (184 cm) [1]
Weight185 lb (84 kg) [1]
Sport
CountryUSA
Sport Speed skating
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)500 m: 37.63 (1980)
1000 m: 1:13.60 (1980)
1500 m: 1:54.79 (1980)
3000 m: 4:06.47 (1980)
5000 m: 6:59.15 (1979)
10 000 m: 14:28.13 (1980)
Medal record
Men's speed skating
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1980 Lake Placid 500 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1980 Lake Placid 1000 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1980 Lake Placid 1500 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1980 Lake Placid 5000 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1980 Lake Placid 10000 m
World Allround Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1977 Heerenveen Allround
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1978 Gothenburg Allround
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1979 Oslo Allround
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1980 Heerenveen Allround
World Sprint Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1977 Alkmaar Sprint
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1978 Lake Placid Sprint
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1979 Inzell Sprint
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1980 Milwaukee Sprint

Eric Arthur Heiden (born June 14, 1958) is an American physician and a former long track speed skater, road cyclist and track cyclist. He won an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Heiden was the most successful athlete at those Olympic Games, single-handedly winning more gold medals than all nations except for the Soviet Union (10) and East Germany (9). [2] He is the most successful Winter Olympian from a single edition of any Winter Olympics. He delivered the Athlete's Oath at those same 1980 Games. His coach was Dianne Holum. [3]

Contents

Heiden is the only athlete in the history of speed skating to have won all five events in a single Olympic tournament and the only one to have won a gold medal in all events. He is considered by some to be the best overall speed skater (short and long distances) in the sport's history. Heiden ranked No. 46 in ESPN's SportsCentury 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century in 1999, the only speed skater to make the list. In 2000, a Dutch newspaper called him the greatest skater ever. [4]

Early life, education and family

Heiden was born in Madison, Wisconsin on June 14, 1958. His father, Jack Heiden, was a longtime orthopedic surgeon in Madison. His sister, Beth Heiden, also became an accomplished cyclist, speed skater and cross-country skier. In their hometown Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin (a suburb of Madison), Eric and his sister Beth were the driving forces behind the creation of the Heiden Haus, a small outpost where local children can warm up after skating or playing hockey on the ice rink (complete with underground clay platform). [5] [6] He graduated from Madison West High School in 1976. [7]

After starting his undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Heiden transferred to the University of California, San Diego and then to Stanford University in California, [8] earning a B.S. degree in 1984 and an M.D. degree in 1991. [9] [10]

Athletic career

Speed skating

Heiden won the World Junior Speed Skating Championships in 1977 and 1978. During his short speed skating career, Heiden won three World Allround Championships and four World Sprint Championships, becoming the youngest athlete to do so. Three times he broke the world record in the 1000 metres, twice in the 3000 metres, and once each in the 1500 metres and 10000 metres. He also broke the points world record in both allround and the sprinting distances.

Heiden finished his speed skating career by finishing second behind Hilbert van der Duim at the 1980 World Allround Championships in Heerenveen. He stood at the top of the Adelskalender, a ranking system for long-track speed skating, for a record 1,495 days, [1] and he won the Oscar Mathisen Award four times in a row from 1977 until 1980. As of 2024, he still is the only skater who has won the award four times. [1]

He received the 1980 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. In 1983, he was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

Heiden was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990.

World records

Heiden in 1977 Eric Heiden 1977c.jpg
Heiden in 1977
Heiden in 1977 Eric Heiden 1977b.jpg
Heiden in 1977
Eric and Beth Heiden in 1977 in Alkmaar, the Netherlands Eric Heiden and Beth Heiden 1977.jpg
Eric and Beth Heiden in 1977 in Alkmaar, the Netherlands
Heiden in 1980 Eric Heiden 1980c.jpg
Heiden in 1980

Over the course of Heiden's career he skated 15 world records:

DisciplineTimeDateLocation
1500 m junior2.02,75January 18, 1976Madonna di Campiglio
5000 m junior7.30,23February 20, 1977Inzell
1500 m junior1.59,46February 20, 1977Inzell
Allround junior168.716February 19–20, 1977Inzell
3000 m junior4.16,2February 4, 1977Montreal
Allround junior166.584February 4–5, 1977Montreal
5000 m junior7.23,54February 5, 1978Montreal
3000 m 4.07,01March 2, 1978 Inzell
1000 m 1.14,99March 12, 1978 Savalen
Big combination 162.973February 11, 1979 Oslo
1000 m1.14,99February 17, 1979Inzell
3000 m4.06,91March 18, 1979Savalen
1000 m1.13,60January 13, 1980 Davos
Sprint combination 150.250January 13, 1980Davos
1500 m 1.54,79January 19, 1980Davos
10000 m 14.28,13February 23, 1980 Lake Placid

[11]

Cycling

After his speed-skating career Heiden became a professional cyclist.

Track cycling

As a track cyclist Heiden competed at the 1981 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Brno, but was not successful. He finished 19th and last in the men's individual pursuit event.

Road bicycle racing

Heiden became a professional racing cyclist. He was one of the first cross-over athletes, becoming a founding member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team. Together with his former speed skating coach (and ex-bike racer), Jim Ochowicz, he conceived of the idea of a European-style sponsored team for North American riders [12] Heiden won a few American professional races. He finished the 1985 Giro d'Italia and took part in the 1986 Tour de France, although he did not complete the race, crashing on a downhill stretch and suffering a concussion five days from the finish. [1]

Heiden is believed to have recorded one of the fastest times at 14:10 (1986 or 1987) on one of the local benchmark climbs in Woodside, California: Old La Honda Road. [13] In 1985, Heiden won the first U.S. Professional Cycling Championship, becoming the American road race champion.

In 1999, Heiden was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.

Medical career

Heiden completed medical school at Stanford University in 1991, and orthopedic residency training at University of California, Davis, in 1996, then spent a year at a sports medicine clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. He returned to California to practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Sacramento. At that time, he also served as team physician for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA. In 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 [14] he was team physician for the U.S. Olympic speed skating team. He opened a sports medicine-based practice at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray, Utah and expanded Heiden Orthopaedics with an additional office in Park City, Utah.

In 2008, Heiden and Massimo Testa published Faster, Better, Stronger, a book about exercise science and exercise programs. [1]

In 2009, Heiden was one of the team of doctors assisting U.S. speed skater J.R. Celski as the latter recovered from a very bad speed skating crash during the U.S. Olympic trials. Despite cutting himself to the bone and requiring 60 stitches, Celski was able to recover in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he won the bronze medal in both men's 1500 m and 5000 m relay. [15]

Personal life

Heiden met fellow medical student Karen Drews while the two were studying at Stanford, and they married in 1995. Karen is a hand surgeon. They have a daughter, Zoe, born in 2001. [16]

Heiden was offered many sponsorship opportunities after his record-setting performance in the 1980 Winter Olympics, but turned down most of them, saying he had enough money, and preferred the anonymity. [16]

A number of American former gold medal winners, including Heiden, were asked to participate in the ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah, but Heiden declined after he was passed over for the honor of lighting the Olympic torch. The 1980 U.S. Hockey Team, which won the gold medal at the 1980 games, was given the honor instead. Heiden said in 2009: "I was probably just too stubborn. I figured if they don't appreciate what I did as a skater, if they don't appreciate now what I am doing as a human being, I'd just as soon hang out with my buddies and watch it. I did not mean to slight the Olympic hockey team in any way." [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hjalmar Andersen</span> Norwegian speed skater

Hjalmar "Hjallis" Johan Andersen was a speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games of Oslo, Norway. He was the only triple gold medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics, and as such, became the most successful athlete there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Hedrick</span> American speed skater

Chad Hedrick is an American inline speed skater and ice speed skater. He was born in Spring, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaétan Boucher</span> Canadian speed skater

Gaétan T. Boucher is a former Canadian speed skating Olympic champion.

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held in Lake Placid, New York, United States, from February 13 to February 24. A total of 1,072 athletes from 37 nations participated in 38 events from 10 different sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lidiya Skoblikova</span> Russian speed skater

Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova is a retired Russian speed skater and coach. She represented the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960, 1964 and 1968, and won a total of six gold medals, a record she shares with Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst. She also won 25 gold medals at the world championships and 15 gold medals at the USSR National Championships in several distances. She was also the first athlete to earn six gold medals in the Winter Olympics and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ard Schenk</span> Dutch speed skater

Adrianus "Ard" Schenk is a former speed skater from the Netherlands, who is considered to be one of the best in history. His first Olympic success came in 1968, when he won a silver medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Between 1970 and 1972 Winter Olympics, Schenk won three consecutive World Allround Speed Skating Championships. He won three gold medals at the 1972 Winter Olympics, becoming, along with Galina Kulakova of Soviet Union, the most successful athlete there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shani Davis</span> American speed skater

Shani Earl Davis is an American former speed skater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Heiden</span> American sportswoman

Elizabeth Lee Heiden Reid is an American athlete who excelled in speed skating, cross-country skiing, and bicycle racing. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin. She was a speedskating bronze medalist at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, where her brother Eric won five speedskating gold medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anni Friesinger-Postma</span> German speed skater

Anna ("Anni") Christine Friesinger-Postma is a German former speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Her brother Jan is also a speed skater. Her sister Agnes is a former speed skater. In July 2010, Friesinger retired from her active sports career when she had to be treated for severe cartilage damage in her right knee joint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireen Wüst</span> Dutch speed skater

Irene Karlijn (Ireen) Wüst is a Dutch former long track speed skater of German ancestry. Wüst became the most successful speed skating Olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances. Wüst is also the only athlete to win an individual gold medal in five consecutive Olympics, Summer or Winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dianne Holum</span> American speed skater

Dianne Mary Holum is a retired American speed skater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Flaim</span> American speed skater

Eric Joseph Flaim is an American former speed skater. He became a world champion in 1988, as well as capturing Olympic silver medals, namely in speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics and in short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Mueller (speed skater)</span> American speed skater

Peter Alan Mueller is an American speed skating coach and former speed skater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casey FitzRandolph</span> American speed skater

Casey J. FitzRandolph is an American speed skater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink</span>

The James C Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink is an outdoor artificial ice track for speedskating in Lake Placid, New York, United States (US). The arena hosted the speedskating events at both the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. During the time between the two Olympics events, the rink hosted Lake Placid High School football games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheila Young</span> American speed skater and cyclist

Sheila Grace Young-Ochowicz is a retired American speed skater and track cyclist. She won three world titles in each of these sports, twice in the same year. In 1976, she also became the first American athlete to win three medals at one Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Men</span>

The International Skating Union has organised the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Men since 1970. The first two years (1970–1971), they were called the ISU Sprint Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. R. Celski</span> Short-track speed skater

John Robert "J. R." Celski is a retired American short track speed skater, three-time Olympian, and three-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Celski has held a total of five combined Short Track World and Junior World Records throughout his career including the 500m and 5000m relay World Records as well as the 500m, 1000m and 3000m relay Junior World Records. Celski was a part of the team that broke and currently holds the World Record in the 5000m relay established in Shanghai, China on November 12, 2017.

Jordan Stolz is an American professional speed skater. At the 2023 World Speed Skating Championships, Stolz became the youngest single distance world champion in history. He also became the first male skater to win three individual gold medals at a single World Speed Skating Championship, a feat he repeated in 2024. He is the world record holder in the 1000 meters.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Eric Heiden". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018.
  2. ↑ Aquitania, Ray E. (2010). Jock-Docs: World-Class Athletes Wearing White Coats. Booklocker.com, Incorporated. ISBN   9781609106126.
  3. ↑ "Eric Heiden". Team USA. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  4. ↑ Woldendorp, Johan (February 4, 2000). "Vrouwen snellen Heiden nu voorbij". Trouw (in Dutch). Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
  5. ↑ Garcia, Jessie (June 30, 2016). Going for Wisconsin Gold: Stories of Our State Olympians. Wisconsin Historical Society. ISBN   9780870207662.
  6. ↑ "Village Heritage". Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ mivey@madison.com, MIKE IVEY | The Capital Times | (February 19, 2014). "Hometown hero Eric Heiden still makes his Olympic presence felt". The Cap Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Kosciolek, Jim (July 22, 1981). "Heiden nixed dash for cash". Syracuse Herald-Journal. p. C-1.
  9. ↑ Eric Heiden: five Olympic gold medals were only the start of his success - website of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum
  10. ↑ Eric Heiden, M.D.: Orthopedic Knee and Shoulder Surgeon - website of Heiden Orthopedics
  11. ↑ "Eric Heiden". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  12. ↑ http://www.velonews.com.506 [ dead link ]
  13. ↑ Training World-class Racers And Weekend Warriors Archived March 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine . BikeRadar (2008-09-20). Retrieved on 2012-11-18.
  14. ↑ Rebate wars Archived January 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine . Findarticles.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-18.
  15. ↑ J.R. Celski Archived December 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . sports-reference.com
  16. 1 2 Graham, Tom (September 22, 2002). "Eric Heiden, Olympic gold medalist / From skates to scalpel / Five-time gold medalist says career in medicine is his greatest achievement". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  17. ↑ Longman, Jere (September 30, 2009). "Former Speedskating Champion Heiden Is Staying Close to the Ice". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.

Further reading

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Oscar Mathisen Award
1977–1980		Succeeded by
Preceded by United Press International
Athlete of the Year
1980		Succeeded by
Preceded by James E. Sullivan Award
1980		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.