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Born: November 4th, 1955 Hometown: Kenosha, WI College: Universoty of Wisconsin, Parkside Current Residence: Kenosha, WI PRs
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Jim Heiring was first exposed to race walking when he watched Larry Young win the bronze medal at the 1968 50K Olympic race walk. A few years later, as a high school junior, he decided to try race walking at the Junior Olympics. At this disappointing first attempt, Heiring was disqualified for disobeying the rules that differentiate race walking from running.
Luckily for Heiring, Mike DeWitt—in his pre-Coach DeWitt days—was nearby to teach Heiring the correct form. The combination of Heiring's natural talent and Dewitt's technical advice paid huge dividends. Heiring won the next race, the Junior Olympics Wisconsin State Championships, and continued on to the National Junior Olympic championships, where he finished 4th.
While race walking enthusiasts today associate the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with Mike DeWitt, back then Bob Lawson coached the team. Lawson offered Heiring a scholarship, with the deal then pretty much the same as now: run cross-country, race walk during track season.
By 1976 Heiring was a college junior. He competed at the Olympic Trials, where time standards for qualification had yet to be established. The top three finishers at the trials made the team, and Heiring finished a close 5th. This achievement lead him to the epiphany, “I might be pretty good at this." He decided to dedicate himself to race walking full time.
Heiring's commitment paid off when during his senior year, he won both the Indoor and Outdoor NAIA championships. He graduated with an Art degree and felt he had to make a choice between art and athletics. Obviously, Heiring chose athletics.
With enough harsh Wisconsin winters under his belt, Heiring moved to California where the weather was more conducive to training. He worked part-time as a commercial artist while focusing on preparations for the 1980 Olympic Games. For the most part, Heiring trained alone. A few times a month, he met with Dan O'Connor for a weekend workout. Unfortunately, Heiring was hampered by injuries and became frustrated. With no coach and no formal development program, he diligently worked alone and overcame the adversity. The 1980 20K Olympic trials found Heiring and Marco Evoniuk walking together with two miles to go. The two purposely finished in a tie.
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 Heiring at the 1979 World Cup |
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