Heiden was the most successful athlete at those Olympic Games, single-handedly winning more gold medals than all nations except for the Soviet Union (10) and East Germany (9).

His victories are significant, as few speed skaters (and athletes in general) have won competitions in both sprint and long-distance events.

His sister, Beth Heiden, also became an accomplished cyclist, speed skater and cross-country skier.

In their hometown Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin (a suburb of Madison), Eric and his sister Beth were the driving forces behind the creation of the Heiden Haus, a small outpost where local children can warm up after skating or playing hockey on the ice rink (complete with underground clay platform).

He stood at the top of the Adelskalender, a ranking system for long-track speed skating, for a record 1,495 days,[1] and he won the Oscar Mathisen Award four times in a row from 1977 until 1980.

[1] Heiden is believed to have recorded one of the fastest times at 14:10 (1986 or 1987) on one of the local benchmark climbs in Woodside, California: Old La Honda Road.

[13] In 1985, Heiden won the first U.S. Professional Cycling Championship, becoming the American road race champion.

Despite cutting himself to the bone and requiring 60 stitches, Celski was able to recover in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he won the bronze medal in both men's 1500 m and 5000 m relay.

[15] Heiden met fellow medical student Karen Drews while the two were studying at Stanford, and they married in 1995.

[16] Heiden was offered many sponsorship opportunities after his record-setting performance in the 1980 Winter Olympics, but turned down most of them, saying he had enough money, and preferred the anonymity.

[16] A number of American former gold medal winners, including Heiden, were asked to participate in the ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah, but Heiden declined after he was passed over for the honor of lighting the Olympic torch.