Alvarez wins summer and winter Olympic silver medals via Utah

The Olympic Rings on display in Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Photo: Shinnosuke Ando

TOKYO, Japan. — Eddy Alvarez is the third person in history to earn a medal in both the summer and winter Olympic Games. Representing Team USA in baseball in Tokyo 2020 and Team USA in Sochi 2014 in speed skating, he won a winter silver and a summer silver today.

USA Speed Skating is based out of Kearn’s Utah, where Alvarez spent years training and competing.

With a final score of  2 – 0 Japan, the 31-year-old husband, father, and flag-bearer still skated then slid into the history books.

Baseball will not be on the programme in Paris 2024 as it wasn’t in Rio 1016. In their famed Yokohana Stadium, under every bit of  82% humidity, Japan was celebratory in their victory. The sport enjoys widespread popularity in Japan relishing this, their first Olympic gold.

Scoreless into the third inning, Team Japan got one run in and kept the score there until the eith when they brought their second and final scoring runner home. 

Ahead 1 – 0 in the fourth inning Japan, loaded their bases prompting a five-player Team USA conference on the mound. Nothing following from the plate, the inning ended with no further runs on the big board.

Alvarez in a big spot coming to the plate with a Japanese runner on third takes the first pitch to first base and is out before he gets there ending the next inning with Japan still up one.

Two on and two out in the top of the sixth with USA in the dugout, another opportunity passed without USA answering Japan’s single score as second baseman Alvarez then caught a runner out in the bottom of the inning.

Park City’s Chris Waddell and Utahn Muffy Davis are two Paralympic athletes who’ve also won summer and winter medals. claimed that title.

The two other American double season medal winners are:

* Eddie Eagan, USA 

SUMMER: Light heavyweight boxing gold (1920)
WINTER: Four-man Bobsled gold (1932)

Eddie Eagan became the first person to win a medal in the winter Olympics and in the summer Olympics in different events. He is the only Summer and winter medalist to win gold medals in different events.

* Lauryn Williams, USA

SUMMER: Athletics 4×100 m relay gold (2012), and 100 m silver (2004)
WINTER: Two-woman bobsleigh silver (2014)

International double season medal winners are:

* Jacob Tullin Thams, NOR 

WINTER: Ski jumping gold (1924)
SUMMER: 8-meter yachting silver (1936)

* Christa Luding-Rothenburger, GDR 

WINTER: Speed skating gold at 500 meters (1984) and gold 1000 m (1988), silver at 500 m (1988), and bronze at 500 m (1992)
SUMMER: Match sprint cycling silver (1988)

She is the only athlete to ever win medals in both winter and summer Games in the same year.

* Clara Hughes, CAN 

SUMMER: Individual road race cycling bronze (1996), and individual time trial cycling bronze (1996)
WINTER: Speed skating gold at 5000 meters (2006), silver at team event (2006), bronze at 5000 m (2002), and bronze at 5000 m (2010)

Clara Hughes is the first person to win multiple medals in both summer and winter Games and holds the highest number of medals of any Olympian to win medals in both the summer and winter Games.

NBC Commentators called Alvarez a “joyful” athlete as they touted he and his brother’s hitting facility in their hometown in southern Florida as being a safe haven during the pandemic for high school, college, and professional baseball players to train. The commentator added that Alvarez, “gave back tremendously to his community.”

By order of the Japanese Olympic Organizing Committee, no Olympic spectators were allowed in the country. To that end, NBC had lots of American families watch parties filmed in real-time to share in the heartwarming moments that make up Olympic Games. Walter and Mable Alvarez, Eddie’s dad and mom, along with his wife and baby boy were one of the only families through the entire 17 days, to A) keep their gathering relatively small per pandemic protocols and B) wear masks. 

After the silver-medal winning game, Alvarez, who showed uncontrolled emotion momentarily in the previous game in which he secured his historic stat, was asked about the play action and said to NBC, “They came to play. I wanted the game in my hands, I just couldn’t get the job done.” When asked about the expected reaction back in the states he added,”Thank you so much. There’s a lot of sacrifice that goes on beyond us, the fans deserve this as much as we do.”

After getting his speedskating silver, Alvarez began his professional baseball career with the minor league team of the Chicago White Sox shortly thereafter moving to his home state of Florida to play for the AAA team the Miami Marlins.

Park City sports fans support Alvarez from a national and local level knowing that the Utah Olympic Oval, where USA Speedskating is headquartered is a close partner of the Utah Olympic Park. That relationship makes his premiere performance in 2014 and 2020 game-changing, akin to Park City’s in 2002 which was Games-changing.