Eric Arthur Heiden
1980 Olympic speedskating champion from Madison / Shorewood Hills (not sister Beth Heiden)
Net worth
$20,000
June 23, 1985
About
Eric Arthur Heiden is the Madison-born speedskater who, in nine days at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, won every men’s long-track event on the program—five individual golds—and then walked away from the endorsement machine to become an orthopedic surgeon.
He was born in Madison on June 14, 1958, and raised in Shorewood Hills, the village wrapped by the isthmus. His father was a surgeon; his sister Beth could also skate past anyone. They trained on Vilas Park and Shorewood rinks, and he graduated from Madison West High School in 1976. The village later put his name on a warming hut, the Heiden Haus, at the elementary-school rink so kids could come in from the ice the way he and Beth had.
At Lake Placid he set Olympic records in all five distances and a world record in the 10,000 meters (14:28.13), after a bad night’s sleep following the Miracle on Ice and a breakfast of grabbed bread. He blacked out the Descente logo when the company would not sponsor him, rode the Tour de France with 7-Eleven until a concussion ended that chapter, and became an orthopedic surgeon like his father. Park City has him now. Madison still has the warming house.
Notable facts
At the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics he won five individual gold medals—every men’s long-track event—and set a world record in the 10,000 meters (14:28.13).
Born in Madison on June 14, 1958, he was raised in Shorewood Hills and graduated from Madison West High School in 1976.
He delivered the Athletes’ Oath at the 1980 Games and later became an orthopedic surgeon; Shorewood Hills named its elementary-rink warming hut the Heiden Haus.
What questions can this profile answer
- What makes Eric Arthur Heiden notable?
- Eric Arthur Heiden is the Madison-born speedskater who, in nine days at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, won every men’s long-track event on the program—five individual golds—and then walked away from the endorsement machine to become an orthopedic surgeon.
- What is Eric Arthur Heiden's estimated net worth?
- Eric Arthur Heiden's estimated net worth is $20,000 as of 1985-06-23.