As the only person to win a gold medal at both the Winter Games in a winter sport and the Summer Games in a summer sport, Eddie Eagan holds a unique place in Olympic history. In 1920 at Antwerp, Eagan beat Thomas Holstock (SAF), then Harold Franks (GBR), and in the final Sverre Sørsdal of Norway to win the gold medal in the light-heavyweight division. After the Olympics, Eagan returned to Yale Law School. He left there in 1922 to become a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford where he soon made his mark in British amateur boxing circles. At the 1924 Olympics, Eagan chose not to defend his light-heavyweight title but instead weighed in as a heavyweight. He met first the Englishman, Arthur Clifton who had replaced Eagan as British ABA champion. After a grueling three rounds Clifton got the verdict but in doing so, so severely injured his hands that he could not come forward for his second round match. After competing twice in the summer Games, Eagan made his debut at the Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid. It was here that he made Olympic history when, as a member of the 4-man bobsled team, he added a gold medal to the one he had won at the summer Games twelve years earlier.
Eagan obtained a B.A. degree from Oxford in 1928 and in 1932 was admitted to the U.S. Bar. He practiced law untiI the outbreak of World War II when he rejoined the armed forces. Colonel Eagan served with distinction throughout the period of hostilities and was awarded ribbons for combat in all three theatres of operations.
United States