Eric Flaim
Encyclopedia
Eric Joseph Flaim (born 9 March 1967 in Pembroke
, Massachusetts
, United States
) is a former US speed skater
.
with the Baystate speed skating club, at 11 years of age in 1979, he pursued both hockey and speed skating for two seasons. Watching the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and Eric Heiden's astonishing 5 gold medal achievement fueled Flaim's own dream of competing for the U.S. in the Winter Olympics and he focused on speed skating. After the 1983 season and winning both North American Titles for Junior in short track and long track speed skating
he decided to fully pursue long track as short track was not yet an official Olympic sport. In his first major International competition, the Junior World Allround Championships, he placed in the top 30, he competed in two. As a senior, he participated in his first World Allround Championships
in 1987 in Heerenveen
. He finished 17th, meaning he did not to qualify for the final distance (the 10,000 m) by just one position.
The next year (1988), Flaim had his best season. Before the Milwaukee WI crowd, he won a 1000m gold medal and bronze overall at the World Sprint Championships
. Two weeks later, at the 1988 Winter Olympics
in Calgary
, Flaim missed medals placing fourth 3 times. In his favorite distance he had the disadvantage of starting in the first pair on the 1,500 m and immediately broke Igor Zhelezovski
's world record. Establishing this mark was an amazing accomplishment for the 20 year old who was not regarded as a leading contender. This would not be the new world record, though, because two pairs later, East German skater André Hoffmann set an even faster time, by just .06 of a second. Flaim's time, however, would remain the second fastest 1,500 m time and so he earned Olympic silver. A highlight for Flaim's career came two weeks later, in Medeo
, part of the former Soviet Union, he became World Allround Champion
. Despite outdoor conditions that were a detriment to Flaim, he battled and skated the finest 10,000m of his career to solidify his championship.
In 1989, Flaim won the 1,000 m World Cup, a first place overall finish shared with Austria
n skater Michael Hadschieff
. After that season he underwent knee surgery in early 1990 and began extensive therapy to get back to elite condition. In 1992, he seemed to be on his way to a comeback when he finished first in in Davos Switzerland, one of the eight 1,000 m races to determine the 1,000 m World Cup
, two weeks prior to the start of the Olympics.
During the 1992 Winter Olympics
in Albertville
, after a 6th place in the 5,000 m, a case of food-poisoning the evening before his 1,500 m race ruined his chances for the rest of the Olympics.
At the 1994 Winter Olympics
, he won his second Olympic silver medal – this time in short track skating – as part of the United States team in the 5,000 m relay. This made him the first skater to win Olympic medals in two different winter disciplines (though not the first skater to win Olympic medals in two different disciplines – that honour goes to Christa Rothenburger
). Flaim participated in his fourth and last Olympics during the 1998 Winter Olympics
in Nagano
, elected by his Olympic peers to carry the flag into the openeing ceremonies.
Flaim was number one on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, from 17 February 1988 to 21 March 1992 – a total of 1494 days, which is almost exactly equal to Eric Heiden's
reign length of 1495 days. Flaim's Adelskalender score is 157.340 points.
Pembroke, Massachusetts
Pembroke is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,927 at the 2000 census.The southwestern section of Pembroke is also known as Bryantville...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) is a former US 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...
.
Biography
Eric Flaim began skating at the age of 5 on the tiny pond next to his home on Fairwood Drive, Pembroke. He soon starting playing youth hockey in his hometown at the Hobomock Arena, later joining travel teams always with the encouragement and support of his father Enrico. His first introduction to the sport started in short track speed skatingShort track speed skating
Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m...
with the Baystate speed skating club, at 11 years of age in 1979, he pursued both hockey and speed skating for two seasons. Watching the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and Eric Heiden's astonishing 5 gold medal achievement fueled Flaim's own dream of competing for the U.S. in the Winter Olympics and he focused on speed skating. After the 1983 season and winning both North American Titles for Junior in short track and long track speed skating
Long track speed skating
Speed skating is an Olympic sport where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating...
he decided to fully pursue long track as short track was not yet an official Olympic sport. In his first major International competition, the Junior World Allround Championships, he placed in the top 30, he competed in two. As a senior, he participated in his first 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...
in 1987 in Heerenveen
Thialf
Thialf is an ice arena in Heerenveen, Netherlands. The stadium is used for long track speed skating, short track speed skating, ice hockey, figure skating, and non-sports events. The outdoor rink was opened in 1967, and the indoor stadium was opened in 1986. Several world records were set in the...
. He finished 17th, meaning he did not to qualify for the final distance (the 10,000 m) by just one position.
The next year (1988), Flaim had his best season. Before the Milwaukee WI crowd, he won a 1000m gold medal and bronze overall at the World Sprint Championships
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...
. Two weeks later, at the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Flaim missed medals placing fourth 3 times. In his favorite distance he had the disadvantage of starting in the first pair on the 1,500 m and immediately broke Igor Zhelezovski
Igor Zhelezovski
Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski is a former speed skater, considered to be one of the best sprinters ever, which resulted in his nickname "Igor the Terrible"...
's world record. Establishing this mark was an amazing accomplishment for the 20 year old who was not regarded as a leading contender. This would not be the new world record, though, because two pairs later, East German skater André Hoffmann set an even faster time, by just .06 of a second. Flaim's time, however, would remain the second fastest 1,500 m time and so he earned Olympic silver. A highlight for Flaim's career came two weeks later, in Medeo
Medeo
The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world...
, part of the former Soviet Union, he became World Allround Champion
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...
. Despite outdoor conditions that were a detriment to Flaim, he battled and skated the finest 10,000m of his career to solidify his championship.
In 1989, Flaim won the 1,000 m World Cup, a first place overall finish shared with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n skater Michael Hadschieff
Michael Hadschieff
Michael Florian Hadschieff is a former speed skater from Austria.-Biography:At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Michael Hadschieff participated in all five distances , winning medals in two of those...
. After that season he underwent knee surgery in early 1990 and began extensive therapy to get back to elite condition. In 1992, he seemed to be on his way to a comeback when he finished first in in Davos Switzerland, one of the eight 1,000 m races to determine the 1,000 m World Cup
Speed Skating World Cup
The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter, a number of competitions on a number of different distances are held...
, two weeks prior to the start of the Olympics.
During the 1992 Winter Olympics
1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...
in Albertville
Albertville
Albertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:...
, after a 6th place in the 5,000 m, a case of food-poisoning the evening before his 1,500 m race ruined his chances for the rest of the Olympics.
At the 1994 Winter Olympics
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...
, he won his second Olympic silver medal – this time in short track skating – as part of the United States team in the 5,000 m relay. This made him the first skater to win Olympic medals in two different winter disciplines (though not the first skater to win Olympic medals in two different disciplines – that honour goes to Christa Rothenburger
Christa Rothenburger
Christa Luding-Rothenburger is a former speed skater and track cyclist. She was born in Weißwasser, East Germany.- Short biography :...
). Flaim participated in his fourth and last Olympics during 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...
in Nagano
Nagano, Nagano
, the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū.As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146...
, elected by his Olympic peers to carry the flag into the openeing ceremonies.
Career
Eric Flaim currently has a Financial Planning practice with [Ameriprise] financial in Portsmouth New Hampshire. He lives with his wife Marci Francis and their son Colby in Stratham NH.Personal records
| Distance | Time | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 36.98 | 23 January 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
| 1,000 m | 1:13.53 | 18 February 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
| 1,500 m | 1:52.12 | 20 February 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
| 3,000 m | 4:02.64 | 11 December 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
| 5,000 m | 6:47.09 | 17 February 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
| 10,000 m | 14:05.57 | 21 February 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
| Big combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
160.219 | 22 March 1992 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
Flaim was number one on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, from 17 February 1988 to 21 March 1992 – a total of 1494 days, which is almost exactly equal to Eric Heiden's
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,...
reign length of 1495 days. Flaim's Adelskalender score is 157.340 points.
External links
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Button_gallery.png