The 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo would be his most successful games. In the 500 meter run, he finished 5th, behind his compatriot Dan Jansen . In the run over 1000 meters, where he finished 4th, the Norwegian Kai Arne Engelstad was 1/10 of a second faster and prevented him from winning an Olympic medal.
The speed skating World Cup 1985/86 brought him to the top of the overall ranking with consistently good performances. In the overall standings, he finished 2nd over 1000 meters and 3rd place over 500 meters.
At the Sprint World Championships in Quebec City , Canada , he won silver. With the fastest time over 1000 meters, he was in the lead after two distances. In the end he had to admit defeat to the Japanese Akira Kuroiwa . On March 19, 1987 Nick Thometz ran in Heerenveen in 36.55 seconds, a world record over 500 meters . The speed skating World Cup 1986/87 did not bring him a single victory until the turn of the year. He caught up with one win after another in the second half of the season. After four victories over 500 meters and four over 1000 meters, he was the undisputed leader in the end.
In the following years he was able to repeat his achievements, neither in the World Cup nor at the Olympic Games. He ended his international career after the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville . The season finale in the Speed Skating World Cup 1991/92 in Butte should bring him off the podium again. With 2nd place over 1000 meters, he withdrew from active sport.
United States
