Michael Plant
Michael Plant started in the sport of speed skating in the ‘70’s and in one way or another has been part of the sport ever since. Mike grew up in the West Allis, WI area, where he also enjoyed the more normal sports such as football, baseball and basketball, but at age 14 he decided to really focus on speedskating. He raced pack style both indoors and out, but finished his career as a long track skater. He went to the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics with his brother Tom and teammate Eric Heiden. He also a six-time World Championship team member.
Where Mike has really made his impact is in serving not only our sport, but Olympic related sports and events mostly on the political front. However, he has never forgotten his roots, where he came from and where his passion lies. He started supporting US Speedskating by being an athlete representative on the Board of Directors, what then was USISA-- now USS. From there he went on to be the AAC (Athlete Advisory Council) representative for the USOC, where he served as the “Chair” of the AAC for 4 years. Mike quickly rose to the top by becoming a member of the USOC BOD, as well as serving on the Executive Committee. With a short break, but yet still involved in many ways he was back on the BOD again and serving since 2004.
Most notably though was the honor given to Mike as the Chef de Mission at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. This position has never been held before by any speed skater. When USS experienced a few rough spots, Mike was asked to step in as the President of USS in 2013, a title he still has to this day. During his time as president, Mike orchestrated the successful re-writing of the USS bylaws in to a more contemporary and functional document. Mike also executed a USS Transition Plan to implement the changes set forth in the restated bylaws.
We are lucky to have had Mike grow up in our sport, and then go on to be able to represent us as a whole sport in so many various ways throughout his political career with the USOC and sport in general.