GM In Salt Lake City: Greenspan Names Heiden 7th Greates Winter Olympian
Eric Heiden is Named 7th Greatest Olympian of All-Time
Greenspan Reveals His Selection at Park City Celebration
PARK CITY – Award-winning Olympic historian and filmmaker Bud Greenspan, in partnership with General Motors, today honored Eric Heiden as the 7th Greatest Winter Olympian of all-time in a celebration at the Chevy Hot Zone at the Kimball Art Center in Park City, UT.
As part of the event, Greenspan premiered a short film on Heiden, who attended the ceremony and was presented with a replica of the GM Eternal Flame Sculpture, which was commissioned by GM to symbolize the Olympic Spirit.
Heiden posted a dominating, unimaginable performance at the 1980 Lake Placid Games, winning gold in all five speed skating events. He set a world record in the 10,000 meters, and bettered the Olympic record in the other four races.
“With each passing Winter Games his remarkable accomplishments in Lake Placid loom ever more significant,” said Greenspan. “Five gold medals stands with the greatest performances in the history of the Olympic Games. What in my mind makes him a superb champion was his dedication to the ideal of amateurism, his dedication to his work as a surgeon, and the inspiration he has provided to those who love the sport of speed skating.”
General Motors Presents Bud Greenspan’s 10 Greatest Winter Olympians was conceived as a platform for Greenspan, in his 50th year of chronicling the Olympic Games, to celebrate Olympians and help mark his legacy to the Olympic Movement. Greenspan announced his selections for the 25 Greatest Winter Olympians in January, culled from the more than 20,000 athletes who have competed in the Olympic Winter Games.
Who’s Next?
- Olympian #5: Mon., Feb. 18
- Olympian #4: Wed., Feb. 20
- Olympian #3: Thurs., Feb. 21
- Olympian #2: Fri., Feb. 22
- Olympian #1: Sat., Feb. 23
Announced in early January were Greenspan's following selections for the 25 Greatest Winter Olympians of all-time:
Myriam Bedard, Canada, Biathlon; Bonnie Blair, United States, Speed Skating; Dick Button, United States, Figure Skating; Lee-Kyung Chun, Republic of Korea, Short Track Speed Skating;Deborah Compagnoni, Italy, Alpine Skiing; Bjorn Daehlie, Norway, Cross Country Skiing; Peggy Fleming, United States, Figure Skating; Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden, Figure Skating; Eric Heiden, United States, Speed Skating; Sonja Henie, Norway, Figure Skating; Dan Jansen, United States, Speed Skating; Jean-Claude Killy, France, Alpine Skiing; Johann Olav Koss, Norway, Speed Skating; Andrea Mead Lawrence, United States, Alpine Skiing; Eugenio Monti, Italy, Bobsled; Irina Rodnina, Russia, Figure Skating; Birger Ruud, Norway, Ski Jumping; Toni Sailer, Austria, Alpine Skiing; Vreni Schneider, Switzerland, Alpine Skiing; Lydia Skoblikova, Russia, Speed Skating; Alberto Tomba, Italy, Alpine Skiing; Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Great Britain, Figure Skating; Vladislav Tretiak, Russia, Ice Hockey; Ulrich Wehling, Germany, Nordic Combined; Katarina Witt, Germany, Figure Skating.
Bud Greenspan has been called the foremost writer/producer/director of sports films and one of the world’s leading sports historians. He has received a George Foster Peabody award and a Director’s Guild of America award for lifetime achievement, seven Emmy Awards, and the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee. Both the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the United States Track & Field Association have honored him with Lifetime Achievement Awards for his commitment in capturing the humanity of sport on film. Greenspan will produce the Official Film of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, and this will mark the seventh in a series of Official Olympic films, which include the Nagano, Lillehammer and Calgary Olympic Winter Games and the Sydney, Atlanta and Los Angeles Olympic Games.
General Motors, the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer and official domestic automotive partner of the U.S. Olympic Team through 2004, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. By providing transportation solutions for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games through its significant commitments to the USOC and the SLOC, General Motors is helping bring the Olympic Spirit to communities everywhere.
