View source for Dan Jansen

{{short description|American speed skater}}
{{other uses|Daniel Jansen (disambiguation){{!}}Daniel Jansen}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox speed skater
| name           = Dan Jansen
| image          = Jansen Dan,portret (2).JPG
| caption        = <!-- other than just name -->
| headercolor    = lightsteelblue
| fullname       = Daniel Erwin Jansen
| birth_date     = {{birth-date and age|June 17, 1965}}
| birth_place    = [[West Allis, Wisconsin]], U.S.
| height         = 1.88 m
| weight         = 83 kg
| country        = {{USA}}
| turnedpro      = 1982
| retired        = 1994
| pb             = 500&nbsp;m: 35.76 (1994)<br />1000&nbsp;m: 1:12.43&nbsp;(1994)<br />1500&nbsp;m: 1:55.62&nbsp;(1993)<br />3000&nbsp;m: 4:25.63&nbsp;(1983)<br />5000&nbsp;m: 7:50.22&nbsp;(1982)
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport|Men's [[speed skating]]}}
{{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Speed skating at the Winter Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1994 Winter Olympics|1994 Lillehammer]]|[[Speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics|1,000 m]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|World Sprint Championships]] }}
{{MedalGold|1988 West Allis|Sprint}}
{{MedalGold|1994 Calgary|Sprint}}
{{MedalSilver|1986 Karuizawa|Sprint}}
{{MedalSilver|1992 Oslo|Sprint}}
{{MedalBronze|1985 Heerenveen|[[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Men|Sprint]]}}
}}

'''Daniel Erwin Jansen''' (born June 17, 1965) is a retired American [[speed skater]]. A multiple world champion in sprint and perennial favorite at the Winter Olympics, he broke a ten-year Olympic jinx when he won a gold medal in his final race, which was the 1,000 meters in the [[1994 Winter Olympics|1994 Winter Games]].

==Early career==
Dan Jansen is the youngest of nine children born to Geraldine (née Grajek) Jansen (1928–2017)<ref>{{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}}</ref> a nurse,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and Harry Jansen (1928–2015),<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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),<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Competitive history==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=January 2016}}
In 1988, Jansen became the [[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|World Sprint Champion]]<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 Speed Skating Championships|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 (skater)|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.

==Personal life==
Jansen has two daughters, Jane (named after his sister) and Olivia, from his marriage to first wife Robin Wicker.<ref>{{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}}</ref> After separating from his wife, he was in a relationship with Christine Rosa.<ref>{{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}}</ref> His second wife, Karen Palacios,<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 [[Olympics on NBC|NBC]], and, from 2005 to  2007, he was the skating coach for the [[Chicago Blackhawks]] of the [[National Hockey League]].<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Records==

===World records===
Over the course of his career, Jansen set eight [[List of speed skating records|world records in speed skating]]:

{| class='wikitable'
|-
! Event !! Time !! Date !! Venue
|-
| [[World record progression 500&nbsp;m speed skating men|500 m]] || '''36.41''' || January 25, 1992 || align=left | [[Vaillant Arena|Davos]]
|-
| 500 m || '''36.41''' || March 19, 1993 || align=left | [[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]
|-
| 500 m || '''36.02''' || March 20, 1993 || align=left | Calgary
|-
| [[Samalog|Sprint combination]] || '''145.580''' || March 20, 1993 || align=left | Calgary
|-
| 500 m || '''35.92''' || December 4, 1993 || align=left | [[Vikingskipet|Hamar]]
|-
| 500 m || '''35.76''' || January 30, 1994 || align=left | Calgary
|-
| Sprint combination || '''144.815''' || January 30, 1994 || align=left | Calgary
|-
| [[World record progression 1000&nbsp;m speed skating men|1000 m]] || '''1:12.43''' || February 18, 1994 || align=left | Hamar
|}<small>Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com<ref name=stats>{{cite web |title=Dan Jansen |url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1965061701 |publisher=SpeedSkatingStats.com |access-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref></small>

===Personal records===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Distance !! Result !! Date !! Location
|- align="right"
| 500 m || 35.76 || January 30, 1994 || align="left" | [[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]
|- align="right"
| 1000 m || 1:12.43 || February 18, 1994 || align="left" | [[Vikingskipet Olympic Arena|Hamar]]
|- align="right"
| 1500 m || 1:55.62 || March 14, 1993 || align="left" | [[Thialf|Heerenveen]]
|- align="right"
| 3000 m || 4:25.63 || March 5, 1983 || align="left" | [[Olympic Hall Zetra|Sarajevo]]
|- align="right"
| 5000 m || 7:50.22 || February 7, 1982 || align="left" | [[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|}<small>Source: SpeedskatingResults.com<ref name=Results>{{cite web |title=Dan Jansen |url=http://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=17&s=2737 |publisher=SpeedskatingResults.com |access-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref></small>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.djfoundation.org Dan Jansen Foundation]
* {{ISU speed skater|old_id=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}} ([https://archive.today/20060325101342/http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_574.htm archive March 25, 2006])
* {{Olympics.com|daniel-jansen|Daniel Jansen}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{InterSportStats|32048}}
* [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}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Dan}}
[[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]]