Eddie Eagan won his 1932 Winter Olympic gold medal in bobsleigh.
Eagan was part of the United States four-man bobsleigh team that won at Lake Placid in 1932. He had already won a Summer Olympic gold medal in light-heavyweight boxing at Antwerp in 1920, making him the only competitor to win gold at both a Summer and a Winter Olympics.
His unusual achievement required success in two very different sports. Boxing rewarded individual ring skill, while bobsleigh depended on coordinated teamwork, explosive starts, steering, and control on an ice track.
Eagan’s record is often misstated as winning medals in two Olympic sports at the same Games. That is not what happened: his victories came 12 years apart and at separate editions. The two-Games distinction also matters because the Winter Olympics did not yet exist when he won his boxing title.