Sports
Sheila Young
born 1950 · speed skater and track cyclist
Detroit-area speed skater and cyclist who became the first American athlete to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics, in Innsbruck in 1976.
- Born
Birmingham, Michigan
age 75- Birth name
- Sheila Grace Young
- Also known as
- Sheila Young-Ochowicz
- Detroit years
- 1950s–1976
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Young grew up in the Detroit area and trained with the Wolverine Sports Club, a local club that has produced Olympic medalists since the early 1970s. She graduated from Denby High School on Detroit's east side in 1968 while balancing both speed skating and competitive cycling, winning world titles in each sport in the same year, first in 1973 and again in 1976. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck she won gold in the 500 meters, silver in the 1500 meters and bronze in the 1000 meters, becoming the first American athlete, male or female, to win three medals at one Winter Games. She later married fellow Olympic cyclist Jim Ochowicz.
Highlights
- Graduated from Denby High School in Detroit, 1968
- World champion in both speed skating and cycling in the same year, 1973 and 1976
- First American to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics (Innsbruck, 1976)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1960s–1968
Denby High School
The Detroit high school she graduated from in 1968.