Is Eric Heiden the greatest ever freak athlete for a widely viewed Olympics sport? Or any?

superfreak wrote:

Heiden came, conquered and won 5 speed skating golds in the 1980 Olympics. 5 different individual disciplines. It was remarkable. Then he disappeared from speed skating instead of trying for at least another Olympics in which he could have gotten more medals. It was a performance never before thought possible, to win at such varied distances. It would be like Bolt winning 5 golds from 100m to 1500m.

Instead of continuing speed skating, he went on to be a pro cyclist and was in the TDF and Giro.

On top of that, he had a medical degree from Stanford. Crazy.

Is there anything comparable to what he achieved in 1980? To show up, dominate like never before imagined, then disappear from event?

His sister was just as amazing in a more diverse way: from setting a HS mile national record in '75, she went on to win multiple world skating golds, won the inaugural NCAA XC ski champs in her first season, won national ski titles, won the world bike road race title, in other words, won pretty much everything there is to win involving legs and lungs.

I'm pretty sure they are the best sibling 1-2 punch in sports history.

Back in the'80s I was driving on El Camino in Palo Alto when I saw him riding his bike in the slow lane. Bicycle not motorcycle. It seemed really dangerous. He had the largest calves I've ever seen.

Crazy to think how good guys like Koss , Gustafson, and Kramer were and this guy is on another planet.

imagine how impressive their kids would be

Michael Phelps was pretty good. 28 Olympic medals. World records in 5 events. Dominant in 4 Olympics.

What's even more impressive about Heiden is that he went on to become a successful physician, graduating I believe from Stanford. Turned that fame into a profitable career.

but I get up again wrote:

Michael Phelps was pretty good. 28 Olympic medals. World records in 5 events. Dominant in 4 Olympics.

Right. And then what did he do besides swimming? You’re missing the point.

but I get up again wrote:

Michael Phelps was pretty good. 28 Olympic medals. World records in 5 events. Dominant in 4 Olympics.

Phelps. Though about it, but then again swimming is all he did and he stuck with that throughout his career and went on to do 3 olympics. Opposite of Heiden.

Besides, speed skating doesn't have the equivalent of all those strokes used in swimming. Swimming should just be the fastest stroke...freestyle.

In speed skating they could have also used different "techniques" such as one event speed skating as normal, another with flailing arms, another using a small hop every 100m, etc. Then all those relays and medleys! Heiden could have gotten 20 gold in just one olympics!

Actually just checked. So the "greatest" swimmer of all time won only 1 gold medal in an individual freestyle race!! Over 3 olympics. Wow.

Maybe the sport was really week.

In the 1000m, he set a word record of 1:13 in 1980.

The current record is 1:05.

36th place in the 2018 Olympics skated 1:11.

superfreak wrote:

Heiden came, conquered and won 5 speed skating golds in the 1980 Olympics. 5 different individual disciplines. It was remarkable. Then he disappeared from speed skating instead of trying for at least another Olympics in which he could have gotten more medals. It was a performance never before thought possible, to win at such varied distances. It would be like Bolt winning 5 golds from 100m to 1500m.

Instead of continuing speed skating, he went on to be a pro cyclist and was in the TDF and Giro.

On top of that, he had a medical degree from Stanford. Crazy.

Is there anything comparable to what he achieved in 1980? To show up, dominate like never before imagined, then disappear from event?

Its not at all like the Usain Bolt analogy. Not even close. A better analogy would be comparing a superstar at a third tier college versus a superstar in the SEC (pick your sport). The number of high level competitors in a boutique sport like speed skating can't compare, even remotely, to T&F.

eurythmical wrote:

but I get up again wrote:

Michael Phelps was pretty good. 28 Olympic medals. World records in 5 events. Dominant in 4 Olympics.

Right. And then what did he do besides swimming? You’re missing the point.

Pot?

Star wrote:

Maybe the sport was really week.

In the 1000m, he set a word record of 1:13 in 1980.

The current record is 1:05.

36th place in the 2018 Olympics skated 1:11.

The clap skate technology changed everything.

Star wrote:

Maybe the sport was really week.

In the 1000m, he set a word record of 1:13 in 1980.

The current record is 1:05.

36th place in the 2018 Olympics skated 1:11.

There’s a big difference skating on an outdoor track in Lake Placid and an indoor, perfectly manicured absolutely wind free indoor oval that all the records are set on today.

Cycling is an easy cross over from skating. While he was good, he never did anything out of this world as a cyclist. Basically a domestique. More on par with Jorgensen in running. Jordan also played baseball, but relative to basketball he wasn’t very good. Bo Jackson is probably a better example, all star in both NFL and MLB.

Always been a fan of Eric Heiden ...

If you're going to bring up Gwen...then what about Michael Woods...a sub 4 miler wtih some nice Junior success and an even better cyclist with some nice results in classics, grand tour stage wins, and a 3rd in the world championships.

For versatility in big time sports though, hard to argue against Bo Jackson, who has highlight reel plays in two major sports, and was an all-star in both I believe. Maybe Deon Sanders is in that club, can't specifically recall.

I watched every race Heiden won when I was a kid. I used to pretend I was an Olympic speed skater whenever my family to us to go ice skating.

Speed skating is a pretty small pond in the sports world. But Heiden was certainly the biggest fish in that pond by a lot. He definitely was physically a once in a lifetime athlete for speed skating much like Bolt and Kipchoge. His move to cycling was also impressive given how quickly he was able to get on a pro team. I always thought that Heiden should have been a decathlete. He was all power and speed from head to toe.

but I get up again wrote:

Cycling is an easy cross over from skating. While he was good, he never did anything out of this world as a cyclist. Basically a domestique. More on par with Jorgensen in running. Jordan also played baseball, but relative to basketball he wasn’t very good. Bo Jackson is probably a better example, all star in both NFL and MLB.

The difference is Jorgensen was winning those tri's because of her 10k ability. Cycling and speed skating actually have a bunch of cross over also. Clara Hughes and Christa Luding have medals in both. Granted we can talk woman's sports depth.

Bob Hayes, Willie Gault, James Jett, Michael Bates and a few other sprinters were pretty. decent NFL recievers.

Lauryn Williams has a 100m gold and a bob sled medal.

Jim Thorpe with his Decathalon and professional MLB and football careers should get a mention. On the downside that was back when the sports were weak.

Sean Brodie was a NFL quarterback and played in the US Open and had a Senior PGA golf career.

My take away with cycling has always been that a huge aerobic engine gets you a long way so it is relatively easy for other aerobic sports people to do well. But then at the highest levels things like bike handling skills and the like start to separate the good from the great.

I do remember watching him and the big news he created.

Heiden and the USA hockey team were huge in 1980.

But I don't think that correlates to being the best at 5 events in running.

And I think Auoita's simultaneous holding of world records in the 1500, 2000, 3000, 2 mile and 5 mile bookended by a 10,000m number one ranking an 800m Olympic medal was a more impressive range in a sport with wider participation.