Irving Jaffee

Irving Warren Jaffee (born September 15, 1906, New York City; died March 20, 1981, San Diego, California) was an American speed skater who won two gold medals at the 1932 Winter Olympics.

Jaffee was born to Jewish parents who emigrated from Russia in 1896. He grew up in the Crotona Park section of The Bronx, where he played baseball with future Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. He briefly attended DeWitt Clinton High School, but dropped out after failing to make the varsity baseball team.

At age 14, Jaffee took up skating at the Gay Blades of Iceland rink (which later became the Roseland Ballroom). Rather than pay the 75-cent admission fee, he worked as an ice cleaner to gain admission. He entered numerous skating races in the 1920s, finally winning the Silver Skates two-mile race in 1926 and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team in 1928.

At the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Jaffee finished fourth in the 5000-meter skate, the best finish by an American in that event to that date. In the 10,000-meter race, Jaffee was leading the competition, having outskated Bernt Evensen in their heat, when rising temperatures thawed the ice. In a controversial ruling, the referee canceled the entire competition. Although the International Olympic Committee reversed the referee and awarded Jaffee the gold medal, the International Skating Union overruled the IOC and restored the referee's ruling.

Jaffee competed again at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, where he won gold medals in both the 5000 and 10,000-meter races. In the 10,000-meter race, Jaffee won in a thrilling finish by leaping across the finish line ahead of Frank Stack and Ivar Ballangrud.

During the Great Depression, the unemployed Jaffee was forced to pawn his Olympic and other medals for $3500. After he obtained a job on Wall Street, he unsuccessfully tried to redeem his medals. In 1934, he worked as Winter Sports Director at Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel and set a world record there by skating 25 miles in 1:26:01.

Jaffee was elected to the United States Skating Hall of Fame in 1940 and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. He died in San Diego in 1981.

External links

* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/Publication.asp?titleID=3&current_page=383 Harold and Meir Ribalow, "Irving Jaffee: Olympian Speedster", Jewsinsports.com]
* [http://www.jewishsports.net/biopages/IrvingJaffee.htm International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame profile, with photo]
* [http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/jaffeeirving.shtml HickokSports.com profile, with photo]
* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JAFFEIRV01 Databaseolympics.com statistics]