Olympic Training to Become Doctors, Professors

Olympic athletes can discover that they retire from the sport that has consumed their lives at an age when most people are just starting out in their careers. Winning medals was just the end of the first act for the following athletes. In their post-Olympic careers, they didn't simply discard one career for the next. They've found ways to apply their experiences as athletes to become better at their new jobs.

Eric Heiden
Hometown: Madison, Wis.

Olympic Games: Innsbruck 1976, Lake Placid 1980 in speed skating.

Second Career: Chairman of the department of surgery Intermountain Healthcare in Park City, Utah.

Long Midwestern winters brought out the best in Eric Heiden, who was recognized as a good hockey player around the neighborhood. But it was his speed-skating that really made him stand out. His coach, Dianne Holum, was an Olympic medalist who drove him to train five hours a day. The schedule netted Mr. Heiden a string of racing victories and a spot on the junior world championship team at 17.

He went on to compete in the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics in Austria. He didn't medal, finishing seventh in the 1,500 meter and nineteenth in the 5,000 meter.

He was more determined to win in the following year, where he became the first American to win the World Speedskating Championship. He captured the title in 1978 and 1979, setting the stage for the Lake Placid Olympics. "I wasn't super confident I was going to [win] gold," says Mr. Heiden. "But once you get the first medal under your belt, it opens the floodgates and allows you to focus."

He ended up sweeping every individual event, winning an unprecedented five gold medals. He also broke five Olympic records and one world record. The skating world was stunned when he retired shortly afterward. At 21, he felt he was ready to move on. "I wanted to get back to school and try something else," he says.

Hunting for his next challenge, Mr. Heiden, scaled back on his pre-med schedule at Stanford University so he could become a professional cyclist. He won the U.S. Cycling Championship in 1985. He also captained the 7-Eleven Cycling Team, which became the first American team to be invited to the Tour de France in 1986. He crashed within sight of Paris on the final mountain stage.

Mr. Heiden finished his medical degree at Stanford University in 1991, and went on to become an orthopedic surgeon. He is currently a partner at the Orthopedic Specialty Clinic in Salt Lake City, where he specializes in ACL reconstruction and arthroscopic surgery. He has treated speed skater Apolo Ohno and Cadel Evans, a pro cyclist. Mr. Heiden, now 52, is also acting medical director for the U.S. Speedskating and Cycling Teams, and is on call in Vancouver.

He often calls on his sporting days to treat patients. "Being an athlete, I see athletes feel confident that I understand where they're coming from," he says.

Debi Thomas
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.

Olympic Games: Calgary 1988 in figure skating.

Second Career: Orthopedic surgeon.

Most aspiring figure skaters live and breathe the sport, but Debi Thomas never wanted to give up her dream of going to medical school. "People used to tell me that you can't win World [Figure Skating Championships] and go to Stanford at the same time. Of course, the more they said 'impossible,' the more I wanted to prove them wrong," she says. Indeed, Ms. Thomas was the first African-American figure skater to win the U.S. National and the World Championships—all while going to school.

Ms. Thomas went into the 1988 Olympics in Calgary with high expectations. She had repeatedly fought for the World Championship title with East German skater Katarina Witt, and their rivalry was billed by the media as the "battle of the Carmens" since both women planned to skate their long routines to Bizet's tragic opera. She says she didn't have the right mindset going into the competition and had lost confidence at the last minute. She had even considering quitting. "Even if you're well trained and you're physically ready for a competition, your body is not always going to go out there and perform," she says.

She faltered early in her free skating routine after two-footing a landing on a combination. She never recovered, winning a bronze behind Elizabeth Manley and gold winner Katarina Witt. It was a very disappointing loss, she says. She had planned to retire from skating whether she won or not. "Knowing I had my medical career to look forward to made it easier to take," says Ms. Thomas, who graduated from Northwestern University's medical school in 1997.

Specializing in adult reconstructive surgery, Ms. Thomas works as an orthopedic surgeon at the Bone and Joint Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The 42-year-old says her days as a skater provide her with helpful insight in diagnosing patients with sports-related problems.

"Figure skating was a pretty individual sport," she says. "I've grown up a lot since those days and enjoy being part of a team now. Being a doctor is about working with nurses, therapists, anesthesiologists, and I've learned more about team play being a doctor than when I was in sports."

Karlos Kirby
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

Olympic Games: Albertville 1992; Lillehammer 1994 in bobsled.

Second Career: College professor and Navy reserve officer

A three-time All-American track and field star and a talented football tailback, Karlos Kirby had his pick of 35 colleges. He gave up his scholarship at Long Beach State University to become an Olympic bobsledder.

He had been fascinated by the sport since seeing it on television. Something just clicked, he says. "I had to give it a shot." He persuaded the executive director of the U.S. National Bobsled Team to give him to tryout in Lake Placid.

At 5-foot-10 and 175 lbs, Mr. Kirby says he was smaller than many competitors at the tryout. Mr. Kirby failed to impress on his first day of fitness testing. The coach told him he could go home.

"I didn't know if I'd make the team, but wasn't going home until I finished," says Mr. Kirby, who returned on the second day. By the end of the year, he was one of the top three pushers in the U.S.

After transferring to the University of New Mexico in 1989, Mr. Kirby completed his bachelor's in University Studies, a multidisciplinary degree, and his master's in physical education.

Five years and five U.S. National Push Championships later, Mr. Kirby competed in his first Olympics in Albertville, France, in 1992. "It was over in a flash," he says. His team finished 9th in the four-man bobsled event. He did better the following year, becoming the first American in 28 years to win a World Championship bronze medal. He didn't medal in Lillehammer in 1994 and retired.

He soon decided to return to education and has been an instructor at William Penn University, as well as Duke and Drake Universities. He's also made time for military service, as a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve. Mr. Kirby, 41, serves as a public affairs officer and is preparing for his first tour in Afghanistan, where he will be working with NATO.

By Dennis Nishi
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 16, 2010