John Amos Shea (September 7, 1910 – January 22, 2002), better known as Jack Shea or ''The Chief'', was an American double-gold medalist in

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...

at the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

. He was the first American to win two gold medals at one Winter Olympics, and was the patriarch of the first family with three generations of Winter Olympians. Along with his compatriot

Irving Jaffee Irving Warren Jaffee (September 15, 1906 in New York City – March 20, 1981 in San Diego, California) was an American speed skater who won two gold medals at the 1932 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there along with h ...

, he was the most successful athlete at the 1932 Winter Olympics.

Career

Shea won gold medals in the 500-meter and 1500-meter events at the III Olympic Winter Games in his hometown of

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

. He also recited the

Olympic Oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of al ...

at the Games' opening ceremonies, which were presided over by then-New York State Governor

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Shea chose not to defend his Olympic titles at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, at the request of a Lake Placid rabbi who asked him not to compete in Hitler's Germany. Decades later, Shea played a major role in returning the Winter Olympics to Lake Placid in 1980 as a member of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee. Afterward, he served as Vice Chairman of the

Olympic Regional Development Authority The Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) is a New York State public benefit corporation, created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used after the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid, New York. ORDA is the only state ...

, the organization that manages the venues used in the 1980 Games. His son, Jim Shea Sr., was a 1964 Olympian in Nordic Combined and Cross Country Skiing; his grandson, Jim Shea Jr. was the gold medalist in men's Skeleton Sledding at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

in Salt Lake City. In the lead-up to the Salt Lake Games, Jack participated in the

Olympic torch relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was first performed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and has taken place prior to every Games since. Although in the pa ...

, lighting a cauldron at the speed skating oval in Lake Placid where he had won his medals in 1932. Shea was killed in a head-on automobile collision by a drunk driver 17 days before he was to watch his grandson participate in the Salt Lake Games.Winter Olympic hero dies
BBC News (January 22, 2002). Retrieved on 2017-08-25.

Outside of sports

Shea attended Lake Placid High School, graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and briefly attended

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

, leaving to support his family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in a series of jobs in Lake Placid. From 1958 to 1974, he was town Justice, and from 1974 until his retirement in 1983 he was the Supervisor of the town of

North Elba North Elba is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 8,957 at the 2010 census. North Elba is on the western edge of the county. It is by road southwest of Plattsburgh, south-southwest of Montreal, and north of ...

References

External links

IOC 1932 Winter OlympicsPB's Jack and a link to results International ChampionshipsJack Shea at SkateResults.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Jack 1910 births 2002 deaths American male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in speed skating Sportspeople from New York (state) Road incident deaths in New York (state) Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics Oath takers at the Olympic Games

Career

Outside of sports

See also

References

External links