02/23/1980 USA, Heiden Wins 5th Gold Medal

Own a Cover Celebrating the First Athlete to Win Five Gold Medals in One Olympic Games

This commemorative cover honors speed skater Eric Heiden’s unprecedented five gold medals at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.  Heiden set four Olympic records and one world record at those games and is the only Olympic speed skater in history to win gold medals in all five events offered in a single Olympic Games.  He’s considered by many to be the best overall speed skater in history. 

This cover features the 1980 Winter Olympics speed skater stamp (US #1795) and was canceled on February 23, 1980, the day Heiden won his fifth gold medal and set a world record in the 10,000-meter race.  The cover features a neat pictorial cancellation of a speed skater and the cachet pictures headlines from Heiden’s historic run.  A neat piece of Olympic history ­– send for yours today.