By Alexander Gagnon

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of speedskating’s debut in the Olympics. One of the most recognizable winter sports, speedskating has nearly as long a history with the AAU Sullivan Award as it does in the Winter Olympics. Speedskaters have been finalists for the award almost as long as it’s been offered, and three speedskaters have won the AAU James E. Sullivan Award in the past 93 years.
 
These three people are some of the best skaters the world has ever seen, with some being an unstoppable force with unparalleled success in one event, and others being consistently impressive over multiple decades. All three of these skaters are impressive and deserving members of the AAU Sullivan Award.
 
Eric Heiden - 51^st Winner, 1980
 

The first speedskater to ever win the AAU Sullivan Award did so in emphatic fashion. The Wisconsin native was the face of speedskating at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Heiden won the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m events. With five gold medals at a single Games, he’s one of only 13 athletes to ever achieve the feat. Even more impressively, he is the only person of those rare 13 who did so as a winter Olympian.
 
Heiden was the top-ranked speedskater in the world for over four years. He skated 15 world records between his junior and senior career. He was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 and is still considered one of the greatest skaters of all time. He also had a second career as an accomplished cycler and was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.  Following his career, he became an orthopedic surgeon to help skaters continue their careers.
 
Notable Finalists: Five-time World Championship gold medalist and 55^th AAU Sullivan Award winner Greg Louganis (Diving) and three-time Olympic gold medalist Mary Meagher (Swimming)
 
Bonnie Blair – 63^rd Winner, 1992
 
 
A premier skater of the 80s and 90s, Bonnie Blair competed at four different Olympiads and won gold at three of them. After going medal-less at the 1984 games as a 19-year-old, Blair would win the 500m gold and set a world record in the process at the 1988 Games. It would be the first of five gold medals for Blair, who won the 500m and 1000m in each of the 1992 and 1994 games. She would also add a bronze in Calgary 1988.
 
On the World Championship stage, she was just as accomplished. She would win nine medals over the course of 1986-1995, including three golds in 1989, 1994, and 1995. Since her retirement from US Speedskating, she has been heavily involved with Right to Play, a charity benefiting children affected by war, poverty, or disease using play-based learning.
 
Notable Finalists: Two-time World Championship gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi (Figure Skating) and eight-time World Championship medalist Gail Devers (Athletics)
 
Dan Jansen – 65^th Winner, 1994
 

Jansen is the most recent speedskater to win the AAU Sullivan Award, taking home the 65^th edition of the award for his performance during 1994. At the World Sprint Championships that year, Jansen took home the gold medal in Calgary in the Sprint and followed it up with his only Olympic gold medal at the 1994 Lillehammer games.
 
Jansen was a regular during the World Sprint Championships, taking home five medals between 1985-1994, including gold in 1992 and 1994. In addition to being a premier skater, Jansen also helped create the Dan Jansen Foundation. The foundation has a primary goal of fighting leukemia, while also assisting youth sports programs and high school seniors in pursuit of higher education.
 
Notable Finalists: Eight-time World Championship gold medalist and 67^th AAU Sullivan Award Winner Michael Johnson (Athletics) and nine-time World Championship medalist and 66^th AAU Sullivan Award Winner Bruce Baumgartner (Wrestling)
 
Other Speedskaters who were AAU Sullivan Award Finalists

• Jack Shea – 3^rd AAU Sullivan Award Finalist – 1932
• Terry McDermott – 35^th AAU Sullivan Award Finalist – 1964
• Diane Holum – Two-Time Finalist – 1968 and 1972
• Apolo Ohno – Three-Time Finalist – 2002, 2003, and 2006
• Joey Cheek – 77^th AAU Sullivan Award Finalist – 2006
• Katherine Reutter – 82^nd AAU Sullivan Award Finalist – 2011
• Brittney Bowe – 86^th AAU Sullivan Award Finalist - 2015