It might be wrong of me to say this, but there's a part of me that is thrilled to see Hedrick fail to win five gold medals. Hedrick never would have "equaled" Heiden's accomplishment even if had won five golds. Heiden won five gold medals in individual races, and I've always had a problem with skaters like Kedrick and swimmers like Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz who pad their medal totals by participating in relay events.
Heiden won gold medals in five races that ranged from 500 to 10,000 meters -- something that will probably never be accomplished again. This is sort of the equivalent of having the same runner win gold medals at five different distances from 100 meters to the marathon . . . something that would rightly be regarded as the greatest feat in sports history.
Agreed.
As dominating as Koss was at Lillehammer, there was no way he could win the 500 meters AND the 10 000.
Heiden - all time legend.