Jimmy Shea

Jimmy Shea Jr.

File:Jimmy Shea (USA).jpg Shea in 2002
Personal information
Full name	James Edmound Shea Jr.
Born	June 10, 1968 (1968-06-10) (age 58) West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (179 cm)
Weight	181 lb (82 kg)
Medal record Men's skeleton Representing the United States Olympic Games Gold medal – first place 2002 Salt Lake City Men World Championships Gold medal – first place 1999 Altenberg Men Silver medal – second place 1997 Lake Placid Men Bronze medal – third place 2000 Igls Men World Cup Championships Bronze medal – third place 1998–99 Men Bronze medal – third place 2000–01 Men

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

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. 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. 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.

Shea has two daughters and a son and lives in Park City, Utah. In 2021, he was sentenced to two years of court-supervised probation for sexual misconduct.

2002 Olympics

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

• List of Olympic medalist families

External links

• Jim SHEA at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation
• 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 Archived February 6, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
• Men's skeleton world championship medalists since 1989
• Olympian Shea talk raises eyebrows
• Shea's official 2002 Olympic website Archived March 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
• U.S. Olympic Committee profile Archived March 25, 2006, at archive.today