Eric Arthur Heiden

Eric Arthur Heiden, born in 1958, American ice skater, winner of an unprecedented five gold medals in speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. He later became a professional bicycle racer.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Heiden began training as a speed skater with his sister Beth (also a 1980 Olympian) as a young teenager. He participated in the 1976 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria, but did not win a medal. After finishing fifth at the 1976 world speed-skating championships, he became the first American to win the world title in 1977 and repeated in 1978 and 1979.

One month before the 1980 Winter Olympics, Heiden won his fourth consecutive world championship, setting three world records. His dominance of men's speed skating continued through the Olympics, in which he broke one world record and captured the gold medals in the 500-m, 1000-m, 1500-m, 5000-m, and 10,000-m races. After the Olympics he refused numerous offers of commercial endorsements and turned to professional cycling.