Shea, Jack

Shea, Jack
▪ 2003
John Amos Shea 
      American speed skater (b. Sept. 10, 1910, Lake Placid, N.Y.—d. Jan. 22, 2002, Saranac Lake, N.Y.), became the first double gold medalist in the Winter Olympics when he won the 500- and 1,500-m speed-skating races at the 1932 Games in Lake Placid; he was also the patriarch of the first family with three generations of Olympians. Before competing in the Olympics, Shea had won the North American overall speed-skating championship in 1929 and the U.S. national overall title in 1930. He declined to skate in the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Ger., in part to protest the politics of Adolf Hitler. Shea was instrumental in persuading the International Olympic Committee to hold the Winter Games in Lake Placid in 1980. His son Jim competed in three skiing events at the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Shea's grandson, Jim, Jr., won a gold medal in the skeleton event at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. Just days before the 2002 Games began, Shea died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

* * *

▪ American speed skater
byname of  John Amos Shea  
born September 10, 1910, Lake Placid, New York, U.S.
died January 22, 2002, Lake Placid

      American speed skater who won both the 500- and 1,500-metre races at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The two gold medals that Shea earned, along with the two won by Irving Jaffee (Jaffee, Irving) in the 5,000- and 10,000-metre races, gave the Americans a clean sweep of the speed-skating events.

      Prior to the Olympics, Shea had won the North American overall speed-skating championship in 1929 and the U.S. national overall title in 1930, but he had never skated overseas. He took time off from studies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, to prepare for the contest against better-known European skaters. Going into the speed-skating competition, Shea and other skaters from North America had the advantage of a change in the rules. The 1932 speed-skating events were held as pack races (a method known as North American Rules) instead of the usual Olympic (and European) system of two racers at a time skating against the clock. Shea defeated the 1928 gold medalist, Bernt Evensen of Norway, by 5 metres in the 500-metre race. He earned his second gold medal in the 1,500-metre race when Herbert Taylor of the U.S., the race leader, lost his balance and stumbled; Shea took the lead and won the race by 7 metres.

      Shea, a native son of Lake Placid, was selected to recite the Olympic oath on behalf of all the competitors at the 1932 Games. He did not compete much after the 1932 Olympics, but in 1980, when the Winter Olympics returned to Lake Placid (Olympic Games), he was a member of the organizing committee. Shea's son James competed in the Nordic skiing events at the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria, and his grandson, Jim Shea, competed in skeleton sledding at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jack Shea (realisateur) — Jack Shea (réalisateur) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Jack Shea et Shea. Jack Shea est un réalisateur et producteur américain né le 1er août 1928 à New York, New York (États Unis). Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jack shea (réalisateur) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Jack Shea et Shea. Jack Shea est un réalisateur et producteur américain né le 1er août 1928 à New York, New York (États Unis). Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • shea — shea; jack·shea; …   English syllables

  • Shea, Jim, Jr. — ▪ 2003       Seventy years after his grandfather, Jack Shea, won two Olympic gold medals in speed skating, American skeleton slider Jim Shea, Jr., added another gold to the family collection when he claimed first place in his event at the 2002… …   Universalium

  • Jack Shea (réalisateur) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Jack Shea et Shea. Jack Shea est un réalisateur et producteur américain né le 1er août 1928 à New York, New York (États Unis). Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jack Crawford (hockey sur glace) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Crawford. Jack Crawford Données clés Nationalité  Canada Né le …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jack O'Shea's — is an international Irish butcher chain located in Knightsbridge in London and in the European district of Brussels, selling quality organic fresh meat.HistoryJack O Shea comes from 8 generations of Irish butchers but could not find an outlet to… …   Wikipedia

  • Jack Bobridge — Personendaten Geburtsdatum 13. Juli 1989 Nation Australien …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jack Bobridge — en 2008 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jack Macpherson — (October 20 1937 November 16 2006) was a former mailman and bartender in La Jolla, California. According to his Los Angeles Times obituary, he was a local legend who acquired a permanent niche in the history of Southern California beach culture …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”