1,000 metres, Men

This one was considered a given. Eric Heiden was favored in all five speed skating events in Lake Placid but none more so than in the 1,000 metres. He had never lost the distance in any international race, and had set the last three world records, having posted 1:14.99 in March 1978 at Savalen and again in February 1979 at Inzell, and bettering it with 1:13.60 in winning the 1980 World Sprints at Davos. He already had two gold medals, having earlier won the 500 and 5,000. Heiden was in the first pair with Canada’s Gaétan Boucher, who had placed second at the 1979 and 1980 World Sprints to Heiden. But Heiden was dominant. He posted the fastest split at 200 metres, at 600 metres, and for each lap, winning his third gold medal by a full 1½ seconds over Boucher, a ridiculous margin for the 1,000 at this level of competition, posting 1:15.18. Third place was a tie, with Norway’s Frode Rønning and the Soviet’s Vladimir Lobanov both posting 1:16.91, and winning bronze medals. The defending champion, American Peter Mueller, who had won the event in 1976 in its first appearance on the Olympic program, placed fifth.