In 1974, the International Olympic Committee awarded the small village of Lake Placid, New York, the Winter Games for 1980. Placid had previously held the Games in 1932. In 1976, I began a laboratory position at the Trudeau Institue in Saranac Lake, New York, which is another small village very close to Placid. Both are located in the near geographical center of the Adirondack Park. Incidentally, the Adirondack Park is the largest “Wilderness Park” in the U.S.

In the winter of 1979, many of the Olympic venues had been recently completed, including the new modification to the bobsled run, the new luge/skeleton run, the ski jump, the brand-new indoor Olympic Ice Arena and the new outdoor Ice Oval. Local folks in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid soon became excited about the upcoming games.

There was a call for event volunteers in the late summer of 1979, and both my wife and I decided to participate. My wife Vickie was a kindergarten teacher in town and the schools were scheduled to be closed during the two weeks of games. Luckily, she was selected to work the ice hockey and figure skating events in the arena, as many other local teachers were — under the supervision of the high school principal. I was able to work for Pinkerton as a security guard during the Games, and luckily was selected for the Olympic arena. With a bit of persuasion, I was able to convince the Pinkerton supervisor to allow me to be stationed at the same section (red-line) as my wife In fact, we both were placed at the VIP section that held empty seats for the other Winter Games athletes in attendence and also included dignitaries from the participating countries. Examples of fans in the red-line section included the alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark and the King and Queen of Sweden.

The events were primarily held from 4-11 p.m. each day, with ice hockey and figure skating taking place on alternate days — on two ice surfaces within the new arena. At these Games, there was talk of potential terrorism (bomb scares) and the New York State Police brought in explosives-trained German Shepherds to survey the building before each event. They found people in the bathrooms hiding, so they could remain in the building for the next ice hockey game. The USA was not on good terms with the Soviet Union in 1980, and as it turns out “boycotted” the Summer Games in Moscow. A tremendous loss for the USA Team of summer athletes, in my opinion.

Hockey highlights
The U.S. team played the Soviets the Sunday before the start of the Games in Madison Square Garden and lost 10-3. Coach Herb Brooks, the last man cut from the USA ice hockey team from the gold medal-winning 1960 Squaw Valley Team, still had confidence in his players. Notable games for the USA in the Olympics included a tie with the Swedes, then wins over the heavily favored Czech team and the team from the Soviet Union. The final win in the medal round was over the Finnish team on the afternoon of the final day. Fans were screaming “USA-USA-USA” and many were in tears during the end of the Games against the Soviet Union and Finland. Team USA may not have been the best team, but they certainly were the best team of the tournament. Well done, boys! During the medal-round USA ice hockey games, grocery bags full of telegrams were delivered to Mrs. Herb Brooks in the VIP section where my wife and I were stationed.

Singular greatest accomplishment
In my opinion, the most spectacular feat of the 1980 Placid Games was the five gold medals earned by Eric Heiden. He was a native of Wisconsin, but trained out of Holland. He completed wins (gold medals) in each of the speed skating events. After a few years as a world-class cyclist, Mr. Heiden settled in as an orthopedic surgeon. In fact, he was one of the attending physicians for some later winter games for the U.S. squad.

Our souvenirs
Besides the memories of seeing all the USA ice hockey games and Eric Heiden winning the 10,000 meter speed skating gold, we cherish the “spirit” of the Lake Placid games. Most of the participating athletes were true amateurs from many different countries. Representing their country was so special for them. An unexpected plus for us was the collection of Olympic pins we were able to obtain during the Games. Many of the pins came from the dignitaries in my wife’s section. In addition, we had postcards cancelled (stamped) at each of the Olympic venues. Together, the pins and cards are nice momentos to give someday to our grandsons, who live in Edmonds.

— By Roger Brideau

Roger Brideau lives in Mill Creek but is a frequent visitor to Edmonds, where his daughter, son-in-law and grandsons live. He has also volunteered for past Edmonds Rotary Club events.