American boxer
For the New York City police detective, see
Eddie Egan
. For the American football player, see
Ed Eagan
.
Edward Patrick Francis Eagan
(April 26, 1897 ? June 14, 1967) was an American boxer and bobsledder who is notable as being the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different disciplines.
[1]
[note 1]
Eagan won his summer gold in
boxing
and his winter gold in
four-man bobsled
. Eagan is one of the few
athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games
.
[2]
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Eagan was born into a modest family in
Denver
,
Colorado
. He graduated from
Longmont High School
and attended college at
Denver University
for one year, during which time he won the western middleweight title. During
World War I
he was an artillery lieutenant and was the middleweight champion of the
American Expeditionary Forces
. After the war he attended
Yale University
. In 1919, he won the
AAU
's heavyweight title. After graduating from Yale in 1921, Eagan attended
Harvard Law School
and the
University of Oxford
.
[4]
In 1923 he won
Amateur Boxing Association
heavyweight title
.
[5]
Eagan wrote in his autobiography about how he had modeled his behavior after
Frank Merriwell
, a fictional athlete from Yale who was the subject of hundreds of widely read
dime novels
: "To this day I have never used tobacco, because Frank Merriwell didn't. My first glass of wine, which I do not care for, was taken under social compulsion in Europe. Frank never drank."
[6]
Olympics
[
edit
]
Summer Olympics
[
edit
]
In 1920, he competed as a
boxer
at the
1920 Summer Olympics
in
Antwerp
, and won the gold medal in the light-heavyweight division. He also competed at the
1924 Summer Olympics
, but this time as a heavyweight. He failed to medal, having lost in the first round to
Arthur Clifton
(see
Boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics - Men's heavyweight
).
[5]
Winter Olympics
[
edit
]
Eagan returned to the Olympics eight years later, this time as a member of the
bobsled
crew of
Billy Fiske
, who steered to victory at the
1932 Winter Olympics
in
Lake Placid
. Eagan became the first of six Olympians to medal in both the Winter and Summer Games,
[7]
followed by
Jacob Tullin Thams
(
Norway
),
Christa Luding-Rothenburger
(
East Germany
),
Clara Hughes
(
Canada
), and
Lauryn Williams
(
United States
).
Eddy Alvarez
joined Eagan and Williams in 2020 as the only Americans to win medals in both the Winter and Summer Olympics. Eagan is one of two competitors to win gold in both Olympic seasons (the other being
Gillis Grafstrom
whose only summer gold was in
figure skating
).
[8]
[9]
[10]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1927 Eagan married Margaret Colgate, who was a member of the family that founded
Colgate-Palmolive
.
[4]
In 1932 he was admitted to the New York bar and began a career in private practice. He spent five years as an Assistant
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
before joining the
United States Army Air Forces
. During
World War II
, he served in the
Air Transport Command
and visited nearly every place where the Army had planes. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel and earned numerous decorations.
[4]
[3]
After the war, Egan was appointed chairman of the
New York State Athletic Commission
. He resigned in 1951 to focus on his law practice.
[4]
Eddie Eagan set a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by scheduled airlines on December 13, 1948. He traveled 20,559 miles stopping at 18 different stations and beat the previous record by 20 hours and 15 minutes.
[11]
He died at age 70 in
New York City
and was interred at
Greenwood Union Cemetery
.
[4]
[12]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Gillis Grafstrom
won gold in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games but it was in the same event. That is because in 1920, prior to the
Winter Olympics
, figure skating was part of the Summer Olympics.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Eddie Eagan"
.
Olympedia
. Retrieved
August 7,
2021
.
- ^
Gall, Jonnie (December 18, 2013).
"Who's competed in the summer and winter Olympics?"
.
GrindTV
. Archived from
the original
on February 22, 2014
. Retrieved
February 18,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Eddie Eagan
. sports-reference.com
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Eddie Eagan, Former Chairman Of Boxing Commission, Is Dead; 2-Sport Olympic Champion Held the U.S. Amateur Title as Heavyweight at Yale"
.
The New York Times
. June 15, 1967
. Retrieved
December 21,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Eddie Eagan ? Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia"
. Boxrec.com
. Retrieved
October 15,
2011
.
- ^
Bull, Andy.
"The forgotten story of ... those magnificent men and their flying bobsled"
,
The Guardian
, February 25, 2010. Accessed June 1, 2023.
- ^
Casper, J.M. "Chasing History"
Learn to Skate
(August 7, 2020)
https://medium.com/learn-to-skate-usa/eddy-alvarez-chasing-history-7f9ed6f021a4
- ^
Casper, J.M. "Chasing History" Learn to Skate (August 7, 2020)
"Eddy Alvarez: Chasing History"
- ^
"This Day in Sports: Eddie Eagan Wins His "Other" Olympic Gold ? SportsCenter.com"
. Espn.go.com. February 15, 2010
. Retrieved
October 15,
2011
.
- ^
"BOXERS WIN PLACES ON OLYMPIC TEAM; Eddie Eagan and Bill Spengler Qualify in Bouts at 69th Regiment Armory"
.
The New York Times
. July 14, 1920.
- ^
"Page 4"
.
digitalcollections.library.miami.edu
. Retrieved
January 31,
2021
.
- ^
"Edward Eagan ? The official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games"
. En.beijing2008.cn. June 14, 1967. Archived from
the original
on June 23, 2011
. Retrieved
October 15,
2011
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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1920?1936: 160?175 lb (72.6?79.4 kg) · 1948: 73?80 kg · 1952?2012: 75?81 kg · 2016?: 76-81 kg
|
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|
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- 1924
:
Scherrer
,
Neveu
,
A. Schlappi
,
H. Schlappi
(
SUI
)
- 1928
:
Fiske
,
Tucker
,
Mason
,
Gray
,
Parke
(
USA
)
- 1932
:
Fiske
,
Eagan
,
Gray
,
O'Brien
(
USA
)
- 1936
:
Musy
,
Gartmann
,
Bouvier
,
Beerli
(
SUI
)
- 1948
:
Tyler
,
Martin
,
Rimkus
,
D'Amico
(
USA
)
- 1952
:
Ostler
,
Kuhn
,
Nieberl
,
Kemser
(
GER
)
- 1956
:
Kapus
,
Diener
,
Alt
,
Angst
(
SUI
)
- 1964
:
V. Emery
,
Kirby
,
Anakin
,
J. Emery
(
CAN
)
- 1968
:
Monti
,
de Paolis
,
Zandonella
,
Armano
(
ITA
)
- 1972
:
Wicki
,
Hubacher
,
Leutenegger
,
Camichel
(
SUI
)
- 1976
:
Nehmer
,
Babock
,
Germeshausen
,
Lehmann
(
GDR
)
- 1980
:
Nehmer
,
Musioł
,
Germeshausen
,
Gerhardt
(
GDR
)
- 1984
:
Hoppe
,
Wetzig
,
Schauerhammer
,
Kirchner
(
GDR
)
- 1988
:
Fasser
,
Meier
,
Fassler
,
Stocker
(
SUI
)
- 1992
:
Appelt
,
Winkler
,
Haidacher
,
Schroll
(
AUT
)
- 1994
:
Czudaj
,
Brannasch
,
Hampel
,
Szelig
(
GER
)
- 1998
:
Langen
,
Zimmerman
,
Jakobs
,
Hampel
(
GER
)
- 2002
:
Lange
,
Kuhn
,
Kuske
,
Embach
(
GER
)
- 2006
:
Lange
,
Hoppe
,
Putze
,
Kuske
(
GER
)
- 2010
:
Holcomb
,
Olsen
,
Mesler
,
Tomasevicz
(
USA
)
- 2014
:
Melb?rdis
,
Vilkaste
,
Drei?kens
,
Strenga
(
LAT
)
- 2018
:
Friedrich
,
Bauer
,
Grothkopp
,
Margis
(
GER
)
- 2022
:
Friedrich
,
Margis
,
Bauer
,
Schuller
(
GER
)
|