Beth Heiden
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Lee "Beth" Heiden Reid (born 27 September 1959) is an American
athlete who excelled in speed skating
, cross-country skiing
and bicycle racing
. She was born in Madison
, Wisconsin
. Her brother Eric
was a five-time gold-medalist speedskater at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics
. She is the mother of Joanne Reid
.
She attended her first Olympics in 1976, at the age of 17. In 1979, she won the World Allround Speed Skating Championships
, the second female American to do so. Kit Klein
had been the first, winning the first official world championship in 1936. Heiden won a bronze medal in the 3,000 m at the 1980 Winter Olympics
in Lake Placid
, skating on an ankle injury that had bothered her for some time.
In cycle racing, which she took up as cross training
outside the skating season Heiden won the US road championship and (in 1980) the world road championship. After the Olympics, while a student at the University of Vermont
(UVM), she was the NCAA
national championship in cross-country skiing in 1983 and an All-America
n in the same sport, as a walk on in her first year of the sport. In that same year she became the US National Champion in one of the skiing distance events. 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 now lives in California, where she continues cross country skiing with her family. In the 2010 US Nationals, Heiden placed in the top ten in two races at the age of 50. She has won the California Gold Rush, Great Race, and won every single race she competed in at the cross country skiing Master's World Championships in McCall, Idaho. She placed in the top five at the NCAA Western Regionals in 2006 as a guest skier, and achieved a top twenty and two top fifteens in the US Supertour in West Yellowstone in 2009.
At the age of 50, she continues to be a dominant force in the ski racing community, although she rarely appears in large scale races.
, at both championships winning all four distances. Between those championships, she won silver at the world sprint championship
, winning both 1,000 m races.
Much was expected of her the following year at the 1980 Winter Olympics
, but an ankle injury kept her from her potential. Despite that, she won a bronze medal in the 3,000 m. Her brother swept the five men's races at the same Olympics.
Heiden is one of only two American women to have become world allround champion, the other being Kit Klein
in 1936. Heiden was inducted in the National Speedskating Hall of Fame in 1989. Her brother Eric was inducted the same day.
Note that the 5,000 m was suspended as a world record event at the 1955 ISU (International Skating Union
) Congress and reinstated at the 1982 ISU Congress.
Heiden has an Adelskalender score of 178.529 points.
:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
athlete who excelled in speed skating
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
, cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
and bicycle racing
Bicycle racing
Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...
. She was born in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. Her brother Eric
Eric Heiden
Eric Arthur Heiden, M.D. is an American former long track speed skater and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York,...
was a five-time gold-medalist speedskater at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
. She is the mother of Joanne Reid
Joanne Reid
Joanne Reid is the daughter of renowned athlete Beth Heiden.Like her mother, Reid was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Following in her mother's footsteps, Reid began cross country skiing early on in Houghton, Michigan. Her competitive career began at the age of thirteen when she attended her first...
.
Short biography
In her first year in high school Heiden was a tennis and soccer player. That same year she ran a national record in the mile for her age and ran in states for both the 800 and the mile.She attended her first Olympics in 1976, at the age of 17. In 1979, she won the World Allround Speed Skating Championships
World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women
The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial Championships were held in the years 1933-1935.-Distances used:...
, the second female American to do so. Kit Klein
Kit Klein
Catherine "Kit" Klein was an American speed skater.- Short biography :Kit Klein was born in Buffalo, New York and started competing on the local level. Later, Klein finished first in the 1500 metres event and third in the 500 metres competition at the 1932 Winter Olympics of Lake Placid, where...
had been the first, winning the first official world championship in 1936. Heiden won a bronze medal in the 3,000 m at the 1980 Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
in Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
, skating on an ankle injury that had bothered her for some time.
In cycle racing, which she took up as cross training
Cross training
Cross-training refers to an athlete training in sports other than the one that athlete competes in with a goal of improving overall performance...
outside the skating season Heiden won the US road championship and (in 1980) the world road championship. After the Olympics, while a student at the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
(UVM), she was the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
national championship in cross-country skiing in 1983 and an All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n in the same sport, as a walk on in her first year of the sport. In that same year she became the US National Champion in one of the skiing distance events. 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 now lives in California, where she continues cross country skiing with her family. In the 2010 US Nationals, Heiden placed in the top ten in two races at the age of 50. She has won the California Gold Rush, Great Race, and won every single race she competed in at the cross country skiing Master's World Championships in McCall, Idaho. She placed in the top five at the NCAA Western Regionals in 2006 as a guest skier, and achieved a top twenty and two top fifteens in the US Supertour in West Yellowstone in 2009.
At the age of 50, she continues to be a dominant force in the ski racing community, although she rarely appears in large scale races.
Speed skating
For 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. This was most obvious in 1979, when she became world allround champion and, three weeks afterwards, world junior allround championWorld Junior Speed Skating Championships
||valign=top width=50%|In 1971, when the ISU had a congress they decided to hold a World Junior Speed Skating Championships. After 2 test-championships , where only boys where allowed to skate, the first official championship was introduced in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In this championship boys and girls...
, at both championships winning all four distances. Between those championships, she won silver at the world sprint championship
World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day...
, winning both 1,000 m races.
Much was expected of her the following year at the 1980 Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
, but an ankle injury kept her from her potential. Despite that, she won a bronze medal in the 3,000 m. Her brother swept the five men's races at the same Olympics.
Heiden is one of only two American women to have become world allround champion, the other being Kit Klein
Kit Klein
Catherine "Kit" Klein was an American speed skater.- Short biography :Kit Klein was born in Buffalo, New York and started competing on the local level. Later, Klein finished first in the 1500 metres event and third in the 500 metres competition at the 1932 Winter Olympics of Lake Placid, where...
in 1936. Heiden was inducted in the National Speedskating Hall of Fame in 1989. Her brother Eric was inducted the same day.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Heiden at important championships, listing the years :| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:... |
– | – | 1980 (3,000 m) |
| World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world... |
1979 | 1980 | – |
| World Sprint World Sprint Speed Skating Championships The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day... |
– | 1978 1979 |
1980 |
| World Junior Allround World Junior Speed Skating Championships ||valign=top width=50%|In 1971, when the ISU had a congress they decided to hold a World Junior Speed Skating Championships. After 2 test-championships , where only boys where allowed to skate, the first official championship was introduced in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In this championship boys and girls... |
1978 1979 |
1976 1977 |
– |
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.| Event | Result | Date | Venue | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 41.78 | 6 March 1980 | Inzell Eisstadion Inzell Eisstadion Inzell is a stadium located in Inzell, Germany, best known as a speed skating venue. It is an outdoor, artificial ice, rink, located 690 metres above sea level and has a capacity of 20,000 people... |
40.68 |
| 1,000 m | 1:23.66 | 21 January 1980 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
1:23.46 |
| 1,500 m | 2:07.87 | 19 January 1980 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
2:07.18 |
| 3,000 m | 4:32.60 | 21 January 1980 | Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated... |
4:31.00 |
| 5,000 m | 8:06.93 | 18 March 1979 | Savalen Savalen Savalen is a lake in Hedmark country, Norway, in the municipalities Tynset and Alvdal, about 18 square kilometres. The river Sivilla, which connects Savalen and Glomma, is regulated and exploited by the Savalen hydropower station . A tourist resort is located at the northern end of the lake, with... |
none |
Note that the 5,000 m was suspended as a world record event at the 1955 ISU (International Skating Union
International Skating Union
The International Skating Union is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands in 1892, making it one of the oldest international...
) Congress and reinstated at the 1982 ISU Congress.
Heiden has an Adelskalender score of 178.529 points.
Halls of Fame
Heiden was inducted in several Halls of FameHall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
:
- 1989: National Speedskating Hall of Fame
- 1993: UVM Athletic Hall of Fame (University of Vermont – for her achievements in skiing)
- 2005: Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame