Dan Jansen's personally-owned Descente skinsuit that he famously wore in the 500-meter speed skating race at the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, held on February 14th, at the University of Calgary's Olympic Oval. The suit, size large, retains its original collar tag, which is marked “DJ.” A recent gold medalist at the 1988 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, Jansen entered the XV Olympiad as the favorite in both the 500 and 1000-meter events. Mere hours before the 500-meter race, Jansen was informed that his 27-year-old sister, Jane Marie Beres, had passed away from leukemia earlier that morning. He competed in her memory that day, wearing this offered teal-and-red skinsuit, but fell just after the first turn. Four days later, Jansen fell again in the 1000-meter race. Jansen would redeem himself and win an Olympic gold medal six years later in his final career race at the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics. In fine, used condition.
A portion of the auction proceeds from this lot will be donated to the Dan Jansen Foundation (https://djfoundation.org/).
