Official booklet for the Lake Placid 1932 Winter Olympics entitled ‘Setting the Stage for the III Olympic Winter Games,’ 16 pages, 7 x 9, published in New York City by the III Olympic Winter Games Committee. Signed inside next to his image by gold medal-winning speed skater “Jack Shea, Dartmouth 1934, 500-1500 meters gold medal—3rd winter Olympic Games 1932.” In fine condition.
Known as The Chief, Shea (1910-2002) won gold medals in the 500-meter and 1500-meter events at the III Olympic Winter Games in his hometown of Lake Placid, New York. He was the first American to win two gold medals at one Winter Olympics, and was the patriarch of the first family with three generations of Winter Olympians. Along with his compatriot Irving Jaffee, he was the most successful athlete at the 1932 Winter Olympics. He also recited the Olympic Oath at the Games' opening ceremonies, which were presided over by then-New York State Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Shea chose not to defend his Olympic titles at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, at the request of a Lake Placid rabbi who asked him not to compete in Hitler's Germany.
