Jack Shea Biography

1910-2002

American speed skater

Jack Shea's two Olympic gold medals were only the beginning of his lifelong involvement with the Olympic Games. After his speed skating victories in his hometown of Lake Placid in 1932, Shea raised another Olympian, his son James, while staying involved in the Olympic movement. Shea was a major figure in the drive to bring the winter Olympics back to Lake Placid in 1980, and in 2001, Shea became the patriarch of the first family ever to have three generations of Olympians when James Shea's son, Jim Jr., qualified to compete in skeleton at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.