Edward Patrick Francis Eagan (April 26, 1897 – June 14, 1967) was an American athlete who won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

as a light-heavyweight boxer at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

and a gold medal in four-man bobsled at the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 ...

. Few athletes have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games; Eagan is the only one to have won gold in each in different events.Eddie Eagan
sports-reference.com Gillis Grafström won gold in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games but in the same event: figure skating, which was contested at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Eagan was born into a modest family in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. He graduated from

Longmont High School Longmont High School is the original high school of the city of Longmont, Colorado, United States, and opened its doors to students in 1901. The school is located in central Longmont and serves as a high school for the St. Vrain Valley School Dis ...

and attended college at Denver University for one year, during which time he won the western middleweight boxing title. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was an artillery lieutenant and was the middleweight champion of the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

. After the war he attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. In 1919, he won the AAU's heavyweight title. After graduating from Yale in 1921, Eagan attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1923 he won Amateur Boxing Association heavyweight title. Eagan wrote in his autobiography about how he had modeled his behavior after Frank Merriwell, a fictional athlete from Yale who was the subject of hundreds of widely read

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related form ...

s: "To this day I have never used tobacco, because Frank Merriwell didn't. My first glass of wine, which I do not care for, was taken under social compulsion in Europe. Frank never drank."

Olympics

Summer Olympics

In 1920, he competed as a boxer at the

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, and won the gold medal in the light-heavyweight division. He also competed at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

, but this time as a heavyweight. He failed to medal, having lost in the first round to Arthur Clifton (see Boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics - Men's heavyweight).

Winter Olympics

Eagan returned to the Olympics eight years later, this time as a member of the

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

crew of

Billy Fiske William Meade Lindsley Fiske III (4 June 1911 – 17 August 1940) was an American combat fighter pilot and Olympic bobsledder. At the 1928 Winter Olympics, 1928 and 1932 Winter Olympics, Fiske won gold as driver for the US Bobsleigh at the Win ...

, who steered to victory at the

in Lake Placid. Eagan became the first of six Olympians to medal in both the Winter and Summer Games, followed by Jacob Tullin Thams (

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

), Christa Luding-Rothenburger (

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Clara Hughes Clara Hughes (born September 27, 1972) is a Canadian cycle sport, cyclist and speed skating, speed skater who has won multiple Olympic Games, Olympic medals in both sports. Hughes won two bronze in the 1996 Summer Olympics and four medals (one g ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

), and Lauryn Williams (

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

). Eddy Alvarez joined Eagan and Williams in 2020 as the only Americans to win medals in both the Winter and Summer Olympics. Eagan is one of two competitors to win gold in both Olympic seasons (the other being Gillis Grafström whose only summer gold was in

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

Personal life

In 1927 Eagan married Margaret Colgate, who was a member of the family that founded

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

. In 1932 he was admitted to the New York bar and began a career in private practice. He spent five years as an Assistant

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the United States Attorney, chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties: the counties (coextensive boroughs of New York City) of New York County, ...

before joining the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...

and visited nearly every place where the Army had planes. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel and earned numerous decorations. After the war, Eagan was appointed chairman of the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York ...

. He resigned in 1951 to focus on his law practice. Eddie Eagan set a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by scheduled airlines on December 13, 1948. He traveled 20,559 miles in 147 hours and 15 minutes stopping at 18 different stations and beat the previous record by 20 hours and 15 minutes. He died at age 70 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and was interred at Greenwood Union Cemetery.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eagan, Eddie 1897 births 1967 deaths American male bobsledders American male boxers Bobsledders at the 1932 Winter Olympics Boxers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Boxers from Denver Harvard Law School alumni Light-heavyweight boxers Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics New York state athletic commissioners Olympic boxers for the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in bobsleigh Olympic gold medalists for the United States in boxing Sportspeople from Rye, New York United States Army colonels United States Army personnel of World War II Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers 20th-century American sportsmen Air Transport Command personnel