Twenty-five years ago, on Feb. 13, 1980, Lake Placid, NY hosted the 1980 Winter Olympics. In the wake of Jimmy Carter's horrendous decision to boycott the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, in the midst of the Iran Hostage Crisis and during the worst economy since the Depression, the Winter Olympics gave Americans some great uplifting moments. Most notably, the greatest upset in sports history, the US hockey team's 4-3 win over the Soviets that set the stage for the US team's gold-medal winning performance two days later.
Lost down the memory hole to many is the transcendant performance of (Dr.) Eric Heiden. A favorite in the shorter pure-speed races, Heiden won gold medals in all five men's speedskating events: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m. And all five of his wins were Olympic records (one was a world record).
The NY Times offers a profile of Lake Placid, NY, 25 years after its date with sports history.
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