Sheila Grace Young-Ochowicz is a retired American speed skater and track cyclist. She won three world titles in each of these sports, twice in the same year. In 1976, she also became the first American athlete to win three medals at one Winter Olympics.
On the eve of the 1976 Winter Olympics, Young announced her engagement to Jim Ochowicz, a fellow cyclist. Ochowicz competed at the same two Summer Olympics as Young's brother Roger, but in different cycling events - Ochowicz in the 4 km team pursuit, Roger Young in the sprint. Jim and Sheila Ochowicz live in Palo Alto, California and have three children; Alex, Elli, and Kate. Their daughter Elli Ochowicz is also a speed skater; she competed at the Winter Olympics in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Sheila used to be a teacher in physical education at La Entrada Middle School.
Career
Young had her best year in 1976, when she won three Olympic speed skating medals, bronze at the world allround speed skating championships, became world sprint speed skating champion, skated three world records, became United States sprint track cycling champion, and became the world track cycling sprint champion. Young retired from cycling and speed skating, and she and Jim worked for the Lake PlacidOlympic Committee. They started a family and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1981, at age 31, she came out of retirement, won two more cycling championships, and then retired again in 1982. Her three Olympic medals in 1976 made her the first United States athlete to win three medals at one Winter Olympics. Her world sprint speed skating championships in 1973 made her the first United States female athlete to accomplish that feat. Her world sprint speed skating championship of 1973 and her world sprint track cycling championship of that same year made her the first athlete to win World championships in two sports in the same year. The United States Olympic Committee named her Sportswoman of the Year in 1976 and 1981 for her accomplishments in both cycling and speed skating. She was inducted in the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1988, and the National Speedskating Hall of Fame in 1991.
Medals
An overview of medals won by Young at important championships, listing the years in which she won each:
Speed skating
Young competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo and saw her roommates Anne Henning and Dianne Holum win Olympic gold - she herself finished fourth on the 500 m and seventeenth on the 1,000 m. In 1973, she became World Sprint Champion and she skated two world records that year, becoming the first woman to skate the 500 m in less than 42 seconds. In 1975, she won bronze at the World Allround Championships. In 1976, just before the Winter Olympics, she became the first woman to skate the 500 m in less than 41 seconds. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Young won three medals - gold on the 500 m, silver on the 1,500 m, and bronze on the 1,000 m. That same year, after the Winter Olympics, she would skate two more world records before retiring from speed skating. She briefly came out of retirement, participating in the World Sprint Championships in 1981 and 1982.
World records
Over the course of her career, Young skated five world records:
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Young skated her personal records.
Track cycling
Young was United States sprint champion four times. At the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won bronze in 1972, silver in 1982, and became world sprint champion three times - in 1973, 1976, and 1981. She retired in 1976, but resumed competing in 1981 to win one more United States sprint championship and beat her future sister-in-law, Connie Paraskevin, taking the gold in the sprint at the world championships in 1981. After winning silver at the 1982 world championship she retired for good, preferring motherhood over prolonging her sports careers. If women's cycling was part of the summer Olympics of 1976 then Young would have a chance to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year, something that Christa Rothenburger achieved in 1988.
