Keeper of the Olympic Flame

Just three years after he streaked past the best skaters in the world and won two gold medals in the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics, Jack Shea took a principled stand to boycott the 1936 games in Nazi Germany. His strong Christian faith and his family's close relationship with the local Jewish population led him to reject Hitler's discrimination and violence against Germany's Jews. A brilliant young athlete born and raise in Lake Placid, Shea vigorously challenged the acquiescence of Avery Brundage, President of the American Olympic Committee, and others who supported participating in the 1936 games. Shea's principled stand and his gold medal fame put him at the intersection of the on-going larger story of international politics and Olympics sports.