Greatest Olympians: Don't Forget Eric Heiden

There's no way of course to compare but that doesn't stop the announcers from comparing. Worse yet, I noticed this time especially that they were asking the athletes what this meant, asking them to assess their own greatness, to compare things they had no historical context for, and more. Of course the media savvy athletes knew not to take the bait, but it was disappointing to hear the fishing expedition from ill prepared microphone toters, whose only advantage was being old! When you're old, at least you can bring your knowledge and experience to bear! Ha! Swimmers have it easier than most I guess, in terms of grabbing multiple medals and having tons of events. Those poor rhythmic synchronized pole dancers have too few events to participate in to ever be called the greatest, no matter how limber. Of course, it didn't stop Cassius Clay from becoming Muhammad Ali and calling himself "The Greatest." Phelps' accomplishments certainly are impressive, but I'd say so were Bolt's! Whether they were equal, who knows. But Heiden's accomplishments certainly stand out, and on the ice, especially, how precariously those races must have been won. And anyone who can win the shortest sprint and the longest endurance tests, all in such a short span of time, certainly must be held up among the very best, and not devalued because of it being a winter sport or because there were not more medals to win in that sport. Thanks for the reminder of such an incredible set of golds.

Looking at Bolt run, especially his height and power to weight and all that, he was considered an unlikely candidate for 100 meters as I hear it. I wonder what is the longest distance Bolt could win at in Olys or World Championships? I'm silly enough to think he might be able to win up to 800 meters or 1500 (is that what they do as a "metric mile" instead of doing four laps or 1600 meters?). I could see him doing well at 10K but maybe not world level, and marathon, well I think that's definitely proven to be more of a gravity sport than, say 100 meters. Oh I guess that makes a point I had not thought of in skating in that it's perhaps not just power to weight but application of power over time to weight ratio...Scrawnies should do way better over the longest distances. But how does that change over hills I wonder?

I wonder how Heiden arrived at this conclusion...

Will this help steer younger athletes toward the right sport for them?

It happens a lot in Europe. They don't have the pool of athletes to choose from, like in the U.S. They identify kids at a young age with potential. We in America have thousands of athletes who get run through a common program and some guys will do well, but the majority probably won't reach their potential. But we have such vast numbers that it doesn't matter.

I'm hoping he means that in Europe the kids don't have the abundance of rec and other sports programs like they have here in the States, and not that kids are naturally more athletic here in the US than in Europe. I guess Heiden didn't achieve all that success by being humble though. 

I love how the writer opens the article:

 "Just because he is the most celebrated Olympian ever in speed skating and a former Tour de France cyclist and an orthopedic surgeon training world-class athletes, that does not mean Eric Heiden can't relate to the rest of us."