Olympic legend Eric Heiden gives back to U.S. Olympics


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SALT LAKE CITY — Eric Heiden is simply an Olympic legend. Five events, five gold medals in speed skating all in a single Winter Olympics. He later became an orthopedic surgeon and is now the team doctor for the U.S. Speed Skating team.

In a little over a week in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980 Heiden did what no other Winter Olympian had ever done or likely will ever do again. He won his gold medals without the luxury of current beautiful facilities such as the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah.

Whether it was the 500 meters, the 10,000 meters or the three long-track races in between, Heiden broke four Olympic records, a world record in winning his five gold medals.

He glided into the record books on an outdoor rink.

"Sometimes they couldn't go over it with a Zamboni to clean it between races," Heiden said. "So it was important to go in the first group. Because before you know it there were 50 other skaters on the ice and it was going to get chewed up pretty quick."

He conquered Lake Placid and never looked back. He became an orthopedic surgeon and is now the team doctor for American speed skaters in Sochi, Russia.

The athletes love the wisdom and experience he brings.

"It's fun talking to those guys about telling them what it was like in the old days with guys like me," Heiden said.

In his office trophy room he has a box of Wheaties with his likeness along with his own action figure. During his golden run in the Olympics he wore a golden skating suit, but that isn't in his possession: "That things at the Smithsonian Institute, so that kind of neat," Heiden said.

Heiden returns to Sochi Friday as a member of the U.S. delegation.

"The biggest thing, and the most important and what I think is the nicest, is that we represent the United States and I think we live in a pretty nice country," Heiden said.

He moved to Utah eight years ago and he shares his medical practice with his wife.

"There are mornings I wake up and I got to pinch myself to make me realize how lucky I am," Heiden said.

Today's athletes aren't likely to attempt what Heiden did in 1980, but his legacy is much greater than his five gold medals. It includes his gifts as a surgeon, which he has used to care for the 2014 Olympians and those in the future.

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Carole Mikita

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