Jimmy Shea
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox sportsperson
James Edmound Shea Jr. (born June 10, 1968) is an American skeleton racer who won the gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Biography
[edit]Shea was the third generation of his family to take part in Winter Games. His father competed in Nordic combined and cross-country skiing events in the 1964 Winter Olympics, and his grandfather, Jack Shea, won two gold medals in the 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in speed skating.<ref name=sports-reference /> His grandfather also recited the athlete's oath at the 1932 opening ceremony. He was born and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, and moved to Lake Placid, New York, in his late teens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He became the first American to win a World Cup race and a World Championship in the sport, and has won more World Cup victories than any other American. He retired in October 2005.
At the FIBT World Championships, Shea earned a complete set of medals in the men's skeleton event with a gold in 1999, a silver in 1997, and a bronze in 2000 (tied for bronze with Austria's Alexander Müller). His best overall seasonal finish in the men's Skeleton World Cup was third twice (1998–99, 2000–01).
Shea founded The Shea Family Foundation which raises money to help kids in sports. He currently serves on the Utah Board of Economic Development.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Shea has two daughters and a son and lives in Park City, Utah.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, he was sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation for sexual misconduct.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002 Olympics
[edit]Along with his father, Jim Shea Sr., he passed the Olympic Torch to Cammi Granato and Picabo Street who then passed it to the 1980 U.S. Men's Hockey Team, who then ignited the Olympic Cauldron.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Template:IBSF
- CBS Sports profile
- FIBT profile
- IOC 2002 Winter Olympics
- List of men's skeleton World Cup champions since 1987
- Men's skeleton Olympic medalists since 1928 Template:Webarchive
- Men's skeleton world championship medalists since 1989
- Olympian Shea talk raises eyebrows
- Shea's official 2002 Olympic website Template:Webarchive
- U.S. Olympic Committee profile Template:Webarchive
Template:Footer Olympic Champions Skeleton Men Template:Footer World Champions Skeleton Men
- 1968 births
- Living people
- American male skeleton racers
- American people convicted of child sexual abuse
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in skeleton
- Olympic skeleton racers for the United States
- Skeleton racers at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Sportspeople from Park City, Utah
- Sportspeople from West Hartford, Connecticut
- Oath takers at the Olympic Games
- 21st-century American sportsmen
- 20th-century American sportsmen