Background
She was born in Madison, Wisconsin.
She was born in Madison, Wisconsin.
She attended her first Olympics in 1976, at the age of 17.
Her brother Eric was a five-time gold-medalist speedskater at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. In her first year in high school Heiden was a tennis and soccer player. That same year, 1975, she ran a national record in the mile for her age and ran in states for both the 800 and the mile.
Kit Klein had been the first, winning the first official world championship in 1936.
After the Olympics, while a student at the University of Vermont (UVM), she was the National Collegiate Athletic Association national championship in cross-country skiing in 1983 and an All-American in the same sport, as a walk on in her first year of the sport. She graduated from the university in 1983 and was inducted into the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.
She has been inducted in the Speed Skating Hall of Fame. She suffered a broken wrist and a ruptured spleen when she fell to the ground in 1980 after a second-floor porch railing gave way.
She now lives in California, where she continues cross country skiing with her family.
In the 2010 United States Nationals, Heiden placed in the top 10 in two races at the age of 50. On November 16, 2013, she was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in the "Modern Road & Track Competitor" category. At the age of 54, she continues to be a dominant force in the ski racing community, although she rarely appears in large scale races.
Foreign most of her skating career Heiden was a junior, but she belonged to the world top.
This meant she participated in both junior and regular championships during the same season several times, both with success. Much was expected of her the following year at the 1980 Winter Olympics, but an ankle injury kept her from her potential.
Her brother swept the five men"s races at the same Olympics. Heiden was inducted in the National Speedskating Hall of Fame in 1989.
Her brother Eric was inducted the same day.
Medals
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Heiden skated personal records.