Jimmy Shea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medal record
Skeleton
Olympic Games
Gold	2002 Salt Lake City	Men
World Championships
Gold	1999 Altenberg	Men
Silver	1997 Lake Placid	Men
Bronze	2000 Igls	Men

Jim Shea Jr. (born June 10, 1968) is a retired American skeleton racer who won the gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He was chosen to recite the Olympic Oath for the 2002 Olympics, on behalf of all competitors.

Shea was the third generation of his family to take part in Winter Games. His father, Jim Shea Sr., 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 in speed skating. His grandfather also recited the athlete's oath at the 1932 opening ceremony. Although American media repeatedly claimed that he was the first third generation Olympian, this honor in fact belongs to the Norwegian Lunde family, who placed their third generation in the Olympics in 1960.

He was born and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut and moved to Lake Placid, New York in his late teens. ^[1] 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 (1998-9, 2000-1).

Shea has since founded The Shea Family foundation which raises money to help kids in sports. He resides in Park City, Utah, where he is a Board Member of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters and a board member of "Mountain Trails", the largest mountain biking trail system in the country. He currently serves on the Utah Board of Economic Development. Jimmy is married to an Emergency Medicine doctor, Dr. Kellee Reed Shea of Orlando, Florida.