WINTER OLYMPICS : Jansen Returns to Family; Sister’s Funeral Is Today

Speed skater Dan Jansen returned home from his Olympic disappointments Friday to deal with personal tragedy--the death of his sister.

Jansen’s early morning arrival in Milwaukee was a stark contrast to the crowd at Calgary, whose cheers turned to shocked silence when Jansen fell Thursday on the straightaway in the 1,000-meter race while en route to a seeming gold medal performance.

“There was just a couple of news media and some of the family,” Dan’s father, Harry Jansen, said of Jansen’s reception Friday.

“Everyone’s been supportive, and I’d like to thank everyone for that,” Jansen, 22, said when he arrived at Mitchell Airport, where he had been flown on a private jet loaned by a corporate sponsor of the Olympics.

Jansen’s fall Thursday night was his second in five days. He went down Sunday on the first turn of the 500-meter race, hours after learning of the death of his sister, Jane Beres, in his hometown of West Allis.

Beres, 27, and the mother of three, died of leukemia.

Harry Jansen said his son seemed relieved to leave the pressure of Calgary behind, saying Dan, the youngest of nine children, was holding up “really well. He’s been through a lot. It’ll be tough today.”

Dan’s father said the family had entertained every caller and every visitor, most of them from the media, even though many of the reporters had intruded on their most private moments.

“I don’t know why we keep doing it, but I guess it keeps our minds off things, keeps us busy,” Harry Jansen said.

In preparing for this morning’s funeral, the Jansen family seemed to draw its strength from each other, as has been the case through the entire ordeal.

“There are things in this life that people can’t control,” said Jansen’s mother, Geraldine. “You struggle to make peace with those things. Everything else you try to make better.”

An outpouring of sympathy and support is expected from friends, relatives and the closely knit members of the West Allis speed skating community.

“I would imagine there’s a tremendous amount of sympathy, but there are some times when sympathy turns into curiosity, which can be a burden,” said church secretary Mildred Rogutich. “I know the calls and questions here have been far more than usual. They (the Jansen family) have been pursued at a time when you normally desire privacy.”