1980 Olympic great Heiden still rankles

I was in New York City over the weekend and stumbled into a gallery in Greenwich Village that was displaying the astonishing work of Norwegian painter Verbjorn Sand.

We got to talking and I mentioned that I live near Lake Placid and the (otherwise uber-charming) Norwegians bristled.

“Oh, we know Lake Placid,” one fellow said. “Eric Heiden, right? He beat out Norwegians in 1980 to win his five gold skating medals.”

It was all very good-humored, but there was some authentic grudgery going on. I sort of wish Americans cared that much about winter sports…