| Salt Lake City |
 |
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| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
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| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
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| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
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| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
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| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
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| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
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| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
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| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
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| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
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| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
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Skates come full circle back to Sheas
By Peter Thunell
Deseret News staff writer
Skeleton gold medalist Jim Shea has said repeatedly since his win that it's not the medals that are important in the Olympics. Sunday, though, Shea and his father, Jack, received some metal that proved to be very important to the family.
Both Sheas were given the speed skates Jack's father, Jack Shea Sr., used during the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., by Japanese journalist Kazahiro Takaoka.
"We always wondered where the original skates were," Jack Shea said.
The Sheas are the only three-generation Olympians in modern Olympic history, and Jack and Jim were featured holding the torch during the opening ceremonies. Jack Shea Sr. was killed in an automobile accident just a few weeks before the start of the Salt Lake Games.
How the skates got from Lake Placid in 1932 to Japan and back to Salt Lake in 2002 is a story of international sportsmanship and the friendships made during the Games.
Takaoka, the managing editor of The Yomiuri, based out of Hokkaido, Japan, received the skates from Yoshida Kozo, a resident of Hokkaido. Kozo, who is 62, received the skates as a gift when he was a young man from Yamada Katsumi, a friend of his father.
Katsumi received the skates when he was also competing in Lake Placid in 1932. Katsumi met Jack Shea Sr. and they swapped their equipment, Shea's skates with Katsumi's skies, as a gesture of friendship.
When Kozo heard recently about Jack Shea Sr. dying and how Jim Shea would be competing in the 2002 Winter Games, he decided to try to get the skates back to the family. Jack Shea said the skates will go to the Lake Placid Museum.
"This is what the Olympics is all about, this is why Grandpa loved competing," Jim Shea said. ". . . I'm overwhelmed and happy to get these back in the family."
Upon receiving the skates, Jack Shea inspected the inscription on the top of the blades and said he was sure they were his father's skates. Shea said he also recalled what he believes are Katsumi's cross-country skis in his father's house, which his father specifically asked his kids not to play around with when they were younger.
"They could still be in my mother's house hanging in the rafters in the basement," Jack Shea said.
Jim Shea returned the favor of receiving the skates by sending back to Kozo one of the runners from the skeleton on which he won a gold medal.
The skates have been well used for the past 70 years. Kozo used them to compete for the Japanese high school speed skating championships when he was younger and he continued to use the skates for years, up until just a few weeks ago.
"They don't make them now like they used to," Jack Shea said with a smile after seeing the good condition of the skates and hearing about how much use they had had over the years.
Kozo said in a letter that he had been rooting for Jim Shea in the skeleton and that he was honored to have had the skates.
"I think it is amazing that three generations of Olympians can be possible," Kozo said in his letter. "I hope there will be in the future a fourth or a fifth generation Shea in the Olympic Games. I hope it goes on and the Sheas will become an everlasting American legend."
E-MAIL: pthunell@desnews.com
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February 25, 2002
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