During his 10-year, four-Winter Olympic odyssey to become the fastest man on ice, American speed-skater Dan Jansen learned a resounding lesson?nothing worth having comes easy.
Inspired by his older sister Jane, Jansen started speed-skating young. He progressed quickly and by age 16 he was already one of the world?s very best junior racers. Two years later, he made his first Olympics at the 1984 Sarajevo Games and nearly medaled in the 500-meter. For Jansen, Olympic glory was a ?not if but when? scenario, an inevitability for an athlete so young, so strong, and so fast.
He became the favorite. The one to watch. And in 1988 Jansen became the World Sprint Champion less than two weeks before traveling to Calgary to compete in the 15th Winter Olympiad. But the Games, which were expected to be Jansen?s breakthrough, began with a tragic loss. His sister Jane passed away from leukemia on the day of his scheduled 500-meter event. Jansen competed, determined to race for his sister, but stunned and saddened by the news, he fell in his first turn. Four days later in the 1,000-meter event, he fell again.
In 1992, Jansen returned to the Olympics at Albertville where he placed fourth and 26th, the latter finish matching his age. Still in his prime but with his window closing, Jansen took aim at Lillehammer, Norway, the site of the only Winter Olympics to take place two years after the previous edition. In 1994, just like in 1988, Jansen arrived as the World Sprint Champion. And once again as a favorite.
After a disappointing eighth-place showing in the 500-meter, Jansen?s final chance to claim an Olympic medal rested in the 1000-meter, an event soon to become the stage for one of the greatest moments in American winter sports history. Defying all odds and expectations, Jansen placed first with a world record time of 1:12.43 and shattered his 10-year Olympic jinx in his final speed-skating race. As a fitting send-off, Jansen received the 1994 James E. Sullivan Award, presented to ?the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States,? and he was chosen by his fellow Olympians to bear the U.S. flag at the closing ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics.
This impressive collection of 20 lots contains an assortment of clothing, apparel, and gear personally-used and -worn by Dan Jansen during his career as a member of the Team USA speed-skating team and as an NBC commentator at the Winter Olympics. The highlight of the collection is the Descente skinsuit that Jansen famously wore in the 1000-meter speed-skating race at the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics.
A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Dan Jansen Foundation. https://djfoundation.org/
