Dan Jansen

Dan Jansen is the youngest of nine children born to Geraldine (née Grajek) Jansen (1928–2017){{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=geraldine-jansen-gerry&pid=186682337&fhid=6815 |title=Geraldine "Gerry" Jansen's Obituary on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |access-date=December 18, 2017}} a nurse,{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=margaret-e-jankowski&pid=167822741&fhid=8537 |title=Margaret E. Jankowski RN's Obituary on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |access-date=December 18, 2017}} and Harry Jansen (1928–2015),{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=harry-w-jansen&pid=175037823&fhid=6815 |title=Harry W. Jansen's Obituary on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |access-date=December 18, 2017}} who retired from the police department as a lieutenant detective. His family is Roman Catholic. He has three sisters who are nurses. Two of his four brothers are police officers and one is a firefighter. He graduated from West Allis Central High School. Inspired by his sister Jane (1960–1988),{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1988/02/15/day-of-tragedy-for-speed-skater-ends-with-fall/c25c5e39-bf98-47f5-a906-802375717c8c/ |title=DAY OF TRAGEDY FOR SPEED SKATER ENDS WITH FALL |first=Angus |last=Phillips |date=February 15, 1988 |access-date=December 18, 2017 |via=www.WashingtonPost.com}} he took up speed skating while growing up. He set a junior world record in the 500-meter race at age 16, and finished 16th in the 1,000 meters and fourth in the 500 meters at the 1984 Winter Olympics.{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=harry-w-jansen&pid=175037823&fhid=6815 |title=Harry W. Jansen's Obituary on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |access-date=December 18, 2017}}

{{BLP unreferenced section|date=January 2016}}

In 1988, Jansen became the World Sprint Champion{{Cite web|title=SS - Competition History|url=http://www.isu.html.infostradasports.com/cache/theasp.asp@pageid=103044&sportid=103&competitionid=17422&taalcode=2&styleid=0&cache=2.html|access-date=2020-07-27|website=www.isu.html.infostradasports.com}} before heading to the 1988 Winter Olympics, where he was a favorite for the 500- and 1,000-meter races. In the early hours of February 14, the day of the 500-meter event, Jansen was informed that his 27-year-old sister, Mrs. Jane Marie Beres, was dying of leukemia. Jansen spoke to her on the phone but was unable to receive a response. A few hours later, Jansen was notified of his sister's death.

Jansen went on to compete in the 500-meter race that afternoon but fell in the first turn. Four days later in the 1,000-meter event, he began with record-breaking speed but fell again, just past the 800-meter mark. He left the 1988 Olympics with no medals but became the recipient of the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award for his valiant efforts. In the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he finished fourth in the 500 meters and 26th in the 1,000 meters, and left the games with no medals. In 1993, Jansen set a world record in the 500-meter event and was cast as a favorite to win the gold medal in the event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

Between the 1992 and 1994 Olympics, Jansen was the only skater to break 36 seconds in the 500 meters, doing so four times. In 1994, Jansen won his second World Sprint Championship title, and he arrived at the 1994 Winter Olympics for one final attempt at an Olympic medal.

In the 500-meter event, he finished eighth. In preparation for the 1,000-meter event, he was coached by Peter Mueller, who won the same event in the 1976 Winter Olympics. Jansen defied expectations and finished first, winning his first and only Olympic medal of his career, while setting a new world record in the process. He received the 1994 James E. Sullivan Award and was chosen by his fellow Olympians to bear the U.S. flag at the closing ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

Jansen has two daughters, Jane (named after his sister) and Olivia, from his marriage to first wife Robin Wicker.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-30-sp-339-story.html |title=THE SIDELINES : Speed Skater Jansen Marries |first=Times Wire |last=Services |date=April 30, 1990 |access-date=December 18, 2017 |via=LA Times}} After separating from his wife, he was in a relationship with Christine Rosa.{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/sport/speedsk/articles/jansen13.htm |title=Washingtonpost.com: Speedskater's Wife Wants Divorce |website=www.WashingtonPost.com |access-date=December 18, 2017}} His second wife, Karen Palacios,{{cite web |url=http://www.worldgolf.com/blogs/karen.palacios.jansen/2007/12/27/golf_instructor_and_famous_husband_give_ |title=Golf Instructor and famous husband give thanks |website=WorldGolf.com |access-date=December 18, 2017}} is a top golf teaching professional. He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004. Today, Dan Jansen is a speed skating commentator for NBC, and, from 2005 to 2007, he was the skating coach for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.{{cite web |url=https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/olympic-gold-medalist-jansen-hired-as-skating-coach/c-475877 |title=Olympic Gold Medalist Jansen Hired As Skating Coach |website=NHL.com |access-date=December 18, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=280274 |title=Dan Jansen Skates into Second Season as Chicago Skating Coach, NHL.com |website=NHL.com |access-date=December 18, 2017}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In memory of his sister Jane, he established the Dan Jansen Foundation with the purpose of fighting leukemia. He is an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.{{cite web |url=http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/foundation/1.05.php |title=MMRF Honorary Board |access-date=July 10, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820012521/http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/foundation/1.05.php |archive-date=August 20, 2009}}

Over the course of his career, Jansen set eight world records in speed skating:

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.djfoundation.org Dan Jansen Foundation]
• {{ISU speed skater|96291}}
• [http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1965061701 Dan Jansen] at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=dan-jansen|old_id=Dan-Jansen|archive=20211027215924}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20060325101342/http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_574.htm |date=March 25, 2006 |title=Dan Jansen's U.S. Olympic Team biography}}
• {{Olympics.com profile|daniel-jansen|Daniel Jansen|org_archive=20210428095225}}
• {{Olympedia}}
• [https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Jansen_Dan.html Dan Jansen] at ESPN.go.com

{{Footer Olympic Champions 1000m Speed Skating Men}}

{{Footer World Sprint champions Speed Skating Men}}

{{Sullivan Award winners}}

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Category:1965 births

Category:Living people

Category:American male speed skaters

Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in speed skating

Category:Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics

Category:Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics

Category:Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics

Category:Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics

Category:World record setters in speed skating

Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients

Category:Sportspeople from West Allis, Wisconsin

Category:World Sprint Speed Skating Championships medalists

Category:20th-century American sportsmen