1962- American speed skater Cathy Turner At the 1994 Olympics, speedskater Cathy Turner was being just like the Cathy Turner everyone knew; tough, competitive and controversial. She took a tight corner in the 500 meter short-track race, shoulder to shoulder with her competition. A speedskater's hands glide over the surface of the ice to keep balance, but in this case, some said she u…
1939- Russian speed skater Before American speed skaters Eric Heiden and Bonnie Blair raced to fame as Olympic champions, Soviet speed skater Lydia Skoblikova set a standard of excellence. She was the first athlete, man or woman, to win six gold medals in Olympic competition and remains the only woman to win four gold medals in a single Winter Olympic Games. Along the way, she debunked stereo-type…
1976- Korean speed skater As short track speed skating is one of the most popular sports in Korea, it's no wonder South Korea's Lee-Kyung Chun was one of the greatest women's short track speed skaters. Her gold medal in the women's 1,000 meter event at Lillehammer, Norway in 1994 was just the beginning of a sports career highlighted by world records and Olympic records.…
1982- American speed skater Short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno was the darling of American sports fans during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The 19-year-old heartthrob with the soul patch was heavily favored to finish with medals in four events at those games. Although in the end he left with only two-a gold and a silver-he was inspiring for his athleticism, for the difficulties that he …
1958- American speed skater Speed skater Eric Heiden won five gold medals in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. There, he set Olympic records in the 500-, 1,000-, 1,500-, 5,000-, and 10,000-meter races, as well as a world record in the 10,000-meter race. After winning more gold medals than any other athlete in a single Winter Olympics and becoming an international celebrity, H…
1964- American speed skater American speed skater Bonnie Blair won six medals competing in three Winter Olympics Games, the second most medals won by a woman in the Winter Olympic Games (the first was Lydia Skoblikova). Of the six, five were gold, making Blair the only American woman to ever win five gold medals in the games. Blair was also the first American speed skater to win in more than one O…
1965- American speed skater Dan Jansen was known as the world's best speed skater in the late 1980s and early 1990s, dominating the world in international competition. However, he is most known for what he didn't accomplish; he competed in three Olympiads before finally earning a gold medal in his final competition of the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. (With Jack McCallum…
1970- American speed skater Derek Parra Derek Parra turned his back on his successful career as an inline skater to hit the ice in hopes of making the Olympic Games as a speed skater. After an awkward transition, he was good enough to qualify for the 1998 Olympics, but a technicality prevented him from competing. Parra came back in 2002 to win a gold and silver medal from the Olympic Games …
1910-2002 American speed skater Jack Shea's two Olympic gold medals were only the beginning of his lifelong involvement with the Olympic Games. After his speed skating victories in his hometown of Lake Placid in 1932, Shea raised another Olympian, his son James, while staying involved in the Olympic movement. Shea was a major figure in the drive to bring the winter Olympics back to Lake Pla…
