Witty to cycle for Summer gold

Named last week as a member of the U.S. Olympic cycling squad for the 2000 Sydney Games, Olympic speedskating medalist Chris Witty becomes only the ninth American athlete to be selected for national teams to compete at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

The Park City resident won two speedskating medals — a silver and a bronze — at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games. She's training in Utah in preparation for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

Witty becomes the fifth U.S. Olympian whose dual sports are speedskating and cycling — the latter a natural cross-training sport for the former. She hopes to become the first American woman and only the second U.S. athlete to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Eddie Eagan is the sole Olympian athlete — American or otherwise - to win gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. He claimed won the light heavyweight division at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games and was a member of the United States' gold-medal squad in the four-man bobsled at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Games.

Art Longsjo was the first U.S. Olympian to compete in both the summer and winter competitions in the same calendar year. Managing a 40th-place finish in the 5,000-meter speedskating event at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games, Longsjo cycled in the 1956 Stockholm Games in the individual road race and the team road race, finishing 14th in the latter.

Dave Gilman was a four-time U.S. Olympian in kayaking from 1976 to 1988. In 1984, he became only the second American athlete to compete in both Olympic Games in the same year by sliding to a 17th-place finish in luge at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games and then competing in the 1,000-meter K-4 kayak competition at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Willie Davenport ran the 110-meter hurdles at four Summer Olympics, tying for the gold and the world record time at the 1968 Mexico City Games and picking up a bronze eight years later at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games. He also competed in the four-man bobsled at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games on a U.S. sled that finished 12th.

Connie Carpenter Phinney finished seventh in the 1,500-meter speedskating event at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games; 12 years later, she captured the gold in the women's individual road race at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Connie Paraskevin-Young placed 14th in the 500-meter speedskating event at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games. She followed up her speedskating career with three appearances on the U.S. Olympic cycling team, winning the bronze in the match sprint at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games.

Arnold Uhrlass finished 14th in the 5,000 meters and 15th in the 10,000 meters in the speedskating competition at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games. He cycled four years later at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games in the 4,000-meter team pursuit event.

Willie Gault, a sprinter-turned-NFL-receiver, earned a spot on the national track team but did not compete when the United States opted to boycott the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. He was an alternate member of the U.S. bobsled team for the 1988 Calgary Winter Games and did not participate in competition.

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