Dianne Mary Holum (born 19 May 1951 in Chicago, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) is a former speed skater

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

.

In 1967, at the age of 15, Dianne Holum won bronze at the World Allround Championships

World Allround Speed Skating Championships

The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...

. At the age of 16, Holum earned a silver medal in the 500 meter race at the 1968 Winter Olympics

1968 Winter Olympics

The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...

, finishing in a three way tie for second place. Holum added a bronze medal in the 1,000 meter event.

At the 1972 Winter Olympics

1972 Winter Olympics

The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...

, Holum won a gold medal in the 1,500 meter event, setting an Olympic record in the process. After finishing sixth in the 1,000 meter race, Holum ended her Olympic career by winning a silver medal on the 3,000 meters.

After winning bronze once more at the World Allround Championships

World Allround Speed Skating Championships

The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...

 later that same year, Holum retired from speed skating, only 20 years old. The following year, she began her career as a coach, helping put a 14-year-old Eric Heiden

Eric Heiden

Eric Arthur Heiden, M.D. is an American former long track speed skater and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York,...

 on the road to the 1980 Winter Olympics

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

, where he won five gold medals. She also coached Eric's sister Beth Heiden

Beth Heiden

Elizabeth Lee "Beth" Heiden Reid is an American athlete who excelled in speed skating, cross-country skiing and bicycle racing. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Her brother Eric was a five-time gold-medalist speedskater at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics...

.

For her achievements as a speed skater, Holum was inducted in the National Speedskating Hall of Fame in 1986. For her achievements as a coach, Holum was inducted in the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. She also coached her daughter Kirstin Holum, who was Junior World Allround Champion in 1997 and participated in the 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

. Kirstin followed a vocation to be a Catholic nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 instead of continuing to skate.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Holum at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:...	1972 (1,500 m)	1968 (500 m) 1972 (3,000 m)	1968 (1,000 m)
World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...	–	–	1967 1972
World Sprint World Sprint Speed Skating Championships The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day...	–	1972	1971