Born: 17 June 1965

Birthplace: West Allis (United States)

Nationality: United States

Sport: Skating

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Sarajevo 1984

Calgary 1988

Albertville 1992

Lillehammer 1994

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 1

Details

Other results:

World Championships

Gold: 2 (88, 94)

Silver: 2 (86, 92)

Bronze: 1 (85)

Breaking the Jinx on His 8th Try

By the time of the Lillehammer Games, in 1994 Dan Jansen had won seven overall World Cup titles and set seven world records. However at the Olympics he had experienced nothing but disappointment. After finishing fourth at 500m in 1984, Jansen was one of the favourites in 1988. But on the morning of the 500m, his sister died of leukemia. Jansen tried to race anyway, but fell.

He fell again in the 1,000m. In 1992 he was again a favorite, but could do no better than fourth in the 500 and 26th in the 1,000. In Lillehammer, Jansen was the overwhelming favourite at 500m, but he slipped and finished eighth.

Despite his great non-Olympic success, Jansen had never won an Olympic medal despite competing in seven olympic races over a ten-year period. His last chance was the 1,000m, a distance at which six of his opponents had better times. Jansen was on world record pace when he slipped during the penultimate turn. Fortunately, he steadied himself and powered on to set a new world record (1:12.43) and win a gold olympic medal at last.