Local athlete greets Olympic icon Eric Heiden in a moment of pure Park City magic

Eric Heiden, winner of an unprecedented five individual Olympic gold medals in long track speedskating. He's the owner and surgeon at Heiden Orthopedics in Park City, Heber City, and Salt Lake City. Pictured here at the 2024 YSA JANS Winter Welcome at the Stein Eriksen Lodge, with a note from Maria Arias. Photo: Brian Boudreau

PARK CITY, Utah — Eric Heiden remains the only speedskater in Olympic history to win gold in all five events in a single Game. Some consider him the best overall speed skater (short and long distances) in the sport’s history.

Thirteen-year-old Maria Arias, who recently moved from Colombia to Park City, is getting to know Heiden “up close and personal.” Back in Colombia, Arias competed in inline skating, one of the nation’s most popular sports. Now, in Park City, she’s found her place in the speedskating community, supported by Youth United.

“The club is about 25% minorities, and Maria has really come out of her shell since she joined us,” said Brian Boudreau, head coach and president of the Park City Speedskating Club.

Arias has also seen early success on the ice. At a recent international speedskating event in Salt Lake City, she reached the finals and even won one of the races, competing among 250 athletes. “She made major strides in a short time, especially never having been on ice before,” Boudreau said. “It sort of surprised me; I didn’t think winning a first-ever race on ice was possible. She was a warrior out there.”

At the Youth Sports Alliance’s Jans Winter Welcome fundraiser, Arias, one of 25 Athlete Greeters, had a chance encounter with Heiden. Speaking through a translator, she asked him to buy a drawing ticket, mentioning that she skates with the Park City Speedskating Club. Unaware to whom she was talking, she made a lasting impression on Heiden, one of 10 Olympians there representing as many sports.

Later in the evening, Heiden sat down at an unassigned open spot at his table. He saw a card in front of him, one of the hundreds of heartfelt, handwritten notes prepared by young athletes from a dozen different sports, 70 from the Speedskating Club alone, and the only one she had created. Coincidentally, when he opened the card, it was written in Spanish by Arias. “I told Eric, ‘This is fate,’” Boudreau said. “This is what this event is all about, connecting him to someone like Maria through sport.”