Eric Heiden
Encyclopedia
Eric Arthur Heiden, M.D. (born June 14, 1958 in Madison
, Wisconsin) is an American former long track speed skater
and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid
, New York, United States. He was the most successful athlete at the same Games, and is indeed, the most successful Winter Olympian from a single edition of Winter Olympics. He also delivered the Athlete's Oath
at those same games.
Heiden is an icon in the speed skating community and, in particular, in Europe where the sport is highly regarded. His victories are significant as few speed skaters (and athletes in general) have won competitions in both sprint and long-distance events. 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 speedskater (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.
His sister, Beth Heiden
, is also an accomplished cyclist, speedskater and cross-country skier. In Heiden's hometown of 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).
After his sports career, Heiden became a physician, and as of 2011 is a practicing orthopedic surgeon in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area.
and four World Sprint Championships
. Three times he broke the world record in the 1,000 metres, twice in the 3,000 metres, and once each in the 1,500 metres and 10,000 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 for an impressive 1,495 days, and won the Oscar Mathisen Award
four times in a row from 1977 until 1980. As of 2006, he still is the only skater who has won the award four times.
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
.
He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1990.
s:
. 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. 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, falling five days from the finish.
Heiden is believed to have recorded one of the fastest times on one of the local benchmark climbs in Woodside, California
: Old La Honda Road. 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
.
Heiden earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University
in 1984 and earned his M.D.
, also from Stanford in 1991. He completed orthopedic residency training at UC Davis
in 1996 and after a year at a sports medicine clinic in Birmingham
, Alabama, 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 and 2010, he was team physician for the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team. He opened a sports medicine-based practice at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray, Utah and has recently expanded Heiden Orthopaedics with an additional office in Park City, Utah.
He has followed in the footsteps of his father, Jack Heiden, a longtime orthopedic surgeon in Madison
, Wisconsin.
In 2008, Heiden published Faster, Better, Stronger, a book about exercise science and exercise programs.
In 2009, he was one of the team of doctors assisting U.S. speed skater J.R. Celski
as he recovered from a very bad speed skating crash during the U.S. Olympic trials. Despite cutting himself to the bone and requiring 60 stitches, the doctors were able to help Celski recover in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver, where he won the bronze medal in both men's 1500m and 5000m relay.
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin) is an American former long track speed skater
Long track speed skating
Speed skating is an Olympic sport where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating...
and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
, New York, United States. He was the most successful athlete at the same Games, and is indeed, the most successful Winter Olympian from a single edition of Winter Olympics. He also delivered the Athlete's Oath
Olympic Oath
The Olympic Oath is a solemn promise made by one athlete -- as a representative of each of the participating Olympic competitors; and by one judge -- as a representative of each officiating Olympic referee or other official, at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games...
at those same games.
Heiden is an icon in the speed skating community and, in particular, in Europe where the sport is highly regarded. His victories are significant as few speed skaters (and athletes in general) have won competitions in both sprint and long-distance events. 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 speedskater (short and long distances) in the sport's history. Heiden ranked No. 46 in ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's SportsCentury
SportsCentury
SportsCentury is an ESPN biography program that reviews the people and athletic events that defined sports in North America throughout the 20th and 21st centuries....
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.
His sister, Beth Heiden
Beth Heiden
Elizabeth Lee "Beth" Heiden Reid is an American athlete who excelled in speed skating, cross-country skiing and bicycle racing. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Her brother Eric was a five-time gold-medalist speedskater at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics...
, is also an accomplished cyclist, speedskater and cross-country skier. In Heiden's hometown of Shorewood Hills
Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin
Shorewood Hills is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1927, the population was 1,732 at the 2000 census. It is a suburb of Madison and part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, 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
Ice rink
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...
(complete with underground clay platform).
After his sports career, Heiden became a physician, and as of 2011 is a practicing orthopedic surgeon in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area.
Skating career
During his short speed skating career, Heiden won three World Allround ChampionshipsWorld Allround Speed Skating Championships
The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...
and four World Sprint Championships
World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day...
. Three times he broke the world record in the 1,000 metres, twice in the 3,000 metres, and once each in the 1,500 metres and 10,000 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
Hilbert van der Duim
Hilbert van der Duim is a former speed skater. A two-time world and European champion, Van der Duim "won often but also fell often", and has become famous for some of the incidents that happened to him during his career.-Career:Hilbert van der Duim became World Allround Champion in 1980, being the...
at the 1980 World Allround Championships
World Allround Speed Skating Championships
The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...
in Heerenveen
Heerenveen
Heerenveen is a town in the Heerenveen municipality of the province of Friesland , in the north of the Netherlands.- History :The town was established in 1551 by three lords as a location for the purpose of digging peat which was used for fuel, hence the name...
. He stood at the top of the Adelskalender for an impressive 1,495 days, and won the Oscar Mathisen Award
Oscar Mathisen Award
Since 1959, the Oscar Mathisen Award is awarded annually for outstanding speed skating performance of the season...
four times in a row from 1977 until 1980. As of 2006, he still is the only skater who has won the award four times.
He received the 1980 James E. Sullivan Award
James E. Sullivan Award
The James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the American Amateur Athletic Union , is awarded annually in April to "the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Often referred to as the Oscar of sports awards, it was first presented in 1930. The award is named for the AAU's founder and past...
as the top amateur athlete in the United States. In 1983 he was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame
United States Olympic Hall of Fame
The United States Olympic Hall of Fame is an honor roll of the top American Olympic athletes.The Hall of Fame was established by the United States Olympic Committee in 1979; the first members were inducted in 1983. Between 1992 and 2003, the Hall of Fame went dormant, with no induction of new...
.
He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame is a promenade in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to honoring distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. New members are honored at a biennial banquet.-History:...
in 1990.
World records
Over the course of Heiden's career he skated 15 world recordWorld record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
s:
- 1500-m junior, 2:02.75 (January 18, 1976, Madonna di Campiglio; beaten by Heiden)
- 5000-m junior, 7:30.23 (February 20, 1977, Inzell; beaten by Heiden)
- 1500-m junior, 1:59.46 (February 20, 1977; beaten by Aleksandr Klimov March 24, 1983)
- Allround junior, 168.716 (February 19–20, 1977, Inzell; beaten by Heiden)
- 3000-m junior, 4:16.2 (February 4, 1977, Montreal; beaten by Tomas GustafsonTomas GustafsonSven Tomas Gustafson is a retired speed skater, and one of the most successful distance skaters of the 1980s. He was born in Katrineholm, Sweden.-Early career:...
January 26, 1980) - Allround junior, 166.584 (February 4–5, 1977, Montreal; beaten by Aleksand Klimov March 24, 1983)
- 5000-m junior, 7:23.54 (February 5, 1978, Montreal; beaten by Tomas GustafsonTomas GustafsonSven Tomas Gustafson is a retired speed skater, and one of the most successful distance skaters of the 1980s. He was born in Katrineholm, Sweden.-Early career:...
January 27, 1980) - 3000-m, 4:07.00 (March 2, 1978, Inzell; beaten by Heiden)
- 1000-m, 1:14.99 (March 12, 1978, Savalen; beaten by Heiden)
- 1000-m, 1:13.60 (January 13, 1980, Davos; beaten by Gaetan BoucherGaétan BoucherGaétan Boucher, OC, CQ is a former Speed skating Olympic champion from Canada.A four-time Olympic medalist, Boucher was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding male athlete of 1984. He was named number 10 on the list of Canada's Athletes of the 20th Century...
, January 31, 1981) - Allround, 162.973 (February 10–11, 1980, Bislett, Oslo; beaten by Viktor ShasherinViktor ShasherinViktor Shasherin is a former Soviet speedskater.He set world record in 5,000 m in Medeo in 1984, with the time 6:49.15.He set world record in 3,000 m in Davos in 1986, with the time 4:03.22.-References:...
, March 25–26, 1983) - 3000-m, 4:06.91 (March 18, 1979, Savalen; beaten by Dmitri Ogloblin March 28, 1979)
- Sprint, 150.250 (January 12–13, 1980, Davos; beaten by Gaetan BoucherGaétan BoucherGaétan Boucher, OC, CQ is a former Speed skating Olympic champion from Canada.A four-time Olympic medalist, Boucher was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding male athlete of 1984. He was named number 10 on the list of Canada's Athletes of the 20th Century...
January 30–31, 1980) - 1500-m, 1:54.79 (January 19, 1980, Davos; beaten by Igor ZhelezovskiIgor ZhelezovskiIgor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski is a former speed skater, considered to be one of the best sprinters ever, which resulted in his nickname "Igor the Terrible"...
March 26, 1983) - 10,000-m, 14:28.13 (February 23, 1980, Lake Placid; beaten by Dmitri Ogloblin March 29, 1980)
Road bicycle racing
After his speed-skating career, Heiden became a professional racing cyclist. He was one of the first cross-over athletes, becoming a founding member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team7-Eleven Cycling Team
The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist...
. Together with his former speed skating coach (and ex-bike racer), Jim Ochowicz
Jim Ochowicz
Jim Ochowicz is a former Olympic bicyclist and manager of the BMC Racing Team. He was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1977 as a contributor to the sport of cycling....
, he conceived of the idea of a European-style sponsored team for North American riders. Heiden won a few American professional races. He finished the 1985 Giro d'Italia and took part in the 1986 Tour de France
1986 Tour de France
The 1986 Tour de France was the 73rd Tour de France, taking place July 4 to July 27, 1986. The total race distance was 4094 km, distributed over 23 stages and a prologue. It was won by Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour...
, although he did not complete the race, falling five days from the finish.
Heiden is believed to have recorded one of the fastest times on one of the local benchmark climbs in Woodside, California
Woodside, California
Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government. The U.S. Census estimated the population of the town to be 5,287 in 2010....
: Old La Honda Road. 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
United States Bicycling Hall of Fame
The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Davis, California, is a private organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cycling.-Location:...
.
Medical career
After starting his undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
Heiden earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1984 and earned his M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, also from Stanford in 1991. He completed orthopedic residency training at UC Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
in 1996 and after a year at a sports medicine clinic in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama, returned to California to practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. At that time, he also served as team physician
Team physician
The team physician for a sports team is the physician who is in charge of coordinating the medical staff and medical services for a sports team. They are also subject to activities involving team building...
for the NBA's Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
and the Sacramento Monarchs
Sacramento Monarchs
The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009...
of the WNBA. In 2002, 2006 and 2010, he was team physician for the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team. He opened a sports medicine-based practice at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray, Utah and has recently expanded Heiden Orthopaedics with an additional office in Park City, Utah.
He has followed in the footsteps of his father, Jack Heiden, a longtime orthopedic surgeon in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin.
In 2008, Heiden published Faster, Better, Stronger, a book about exercise science and exercise programs.
In 2009, he was one of the team of doctors assisting U.S. speed skater J.R. Celski
J.R. Celski
John Robert "J. R." Celski is an American short track speed skater and two-time medalist in the Winter Olympics.At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Celski won bronze in the 1500 m and the 5000 m relay. His bronze medal in the 1500 m was a result of two Korean skaters crashing into each...
as he recovered from a very bad speed skating crash during the U.S. Olympic trials. Despite cutting himself to the bone and requiring 60 stitches, the doctors were able to help Celski recover in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
in Vancouver, where he won the bronze medal in both men's 1500m and 5000m relay.
Further reading
- Wangrin, Mark (1999). "Eric Heiden: True Gold". In ESPN SportsCentury. New York: Hyperion-ESPN Books. pp. 252–3.
External links
- Eric Heiden at SkateResults.com
- PB's and a link to all his International Championships
- Eric Heiden's U.S. Olympic Team bio ... notes, quotes, photos
- Eric Heiden interview on 25th anniversary of Olympic heroics
- IOC 1980 Winter Olympics
- Current skaters comment on Heiden's legacy
- Race-by-race analysis by Heiden
- Scientific approach to find the best skater of all times, University of Groningen, The Netherlands (Dutch)
- Book Review of Faster, Better, Stronger at Letters on Pages