John Rutherford Heaton (September 8, 1908 – September 10, 1976) was an American

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der and

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

racer who competed from the late 1920s to the late 1940s. Heaton was the youngest son of John Edward Heaton and Florence Caroline Trowbridge of

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. He had two brothers, Jennison (also an Olympic bobsledder and skeleton racer) and Trowbridge. Heaton married four times, first to Gwendolyn Robinson de Alzaga Unzue in 1937. He married Denise Paule Genest in 1950 and had a son, John Edward Heaton, born in 1951. He then married Heidi Von Lauer Mundchofen in 1959 and Beatrix Bayer in 1965. Heaton competed in three

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. He won two silver medals in the skeleton in 1928 and 1948, and one bronze in the bobsled in 1932. At the 1948 games in

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, he was the American team's flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. In the late 1920s, Heaton toured the world with friends

Billy Fiske William Meade Lindsley Fiske III (4 June 1911 – 17 August 1940) was an American combat fighter pilot and Olympic bobsledder. At the 1928 and 1932 Winter Olympics, Fiske won gold as driver for the US bobsledding team, also acting as the Ame ...

(fellow Olympic medalist and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

hero) and Francis "Frankie" Rhodes (nephew of

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...

). They traveled to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The Heaton Gold Cup was presented in 1933 by the three Heaton brothers and their mother. It remains one of the classic skeleton events of the St. Moritz "Cresta" season. Heaton was one of the pioneers of the Portillo ski resort and skiing in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in the 1940s. The Roca Jack is named after him. Heaton died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in 1976 at age 68.

References

Bobsleigh two-man Olympic medalists 1932-56 and since 1964List of American flag bearers during the Winter Olympic opening ceremonies

1908 births 1976 deaths Sportspeople from New Haven, Connecticut American male bobsledders American male skeleton racers Olympic skeleton racers for the United States Bobsledders at the 1932 Winter Olympics Skeleton racers at the 1928 Winter Olympics Skeleton racers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in skeleton Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in bobsleigh Medalists at the 1928 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics American expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate sportspeople in Chile 20th-century American people {{Skeleton-bio-stub