After Stumbles, Jansen Finished Strong

The baby Dan Jansen waltzed with across the ice in Lillehammer, the 9-month-old named after his beloved sister? Little Jane is 8 now, and Jansen no longer can hold her over his head. And Jane has a sister, Olivia, who is 6.

But Jansen is divorced from Robin. It was Robin who wept in the stands and passed baby Jane through the crowd so that Dan could carry Jane. Dan is remarried and living in North Carolina so he can be close to his daughters.

So the fairy tale does have a messier, real-life ending.

But Olympic fans will forever get chills watching the replay of one speedskating race.

Because of one race, Jansen had his future set. He can earn $15,000 for one speaking engagement. And he can endorse products, be a TV commentator, as he is for NBC. Setting seven world speedskating records, winning seven speedskating World Cup championships would have set him up for nothing but the need to find a regular job.

But because, on Feb. 18, 1994, Jansen won a gold medal in his eighth, and final, Olympic race, he became a beloved Olympic champion--by his countrymen and speedskating fans around the world.

We knew Jansen’s story on that February day at the raucous speedskating oval in Hamar, Norway. We knew how Jansen, youngest of nine children, had been fourth as an unknown 18-year-old in the 500 meters at the 1984 Olympics; how his sister, Jane, his inspiration and mentor, had died of leukemia on the day of his 500-meter race at the 1988 Calgary Games and how Jansen raced anyway, then slipped and fell and how he fell again, four days later, in the 1,000-meter event.

We knew Jansen came to the 1992 Albertville Games as a favorite in the 500 but skated heavily in slushy ice and finished fourth. He tried so hard in the 1,000 that he pushed himself too hard early and faded to 26th at the finish.

In all the other big races, the non-Olympic ones, Jansen won. He came to Lillehammer at his peak, a 28-year-old who had won the most important 500-meter races of the year. But in the Olympic race, Jansen slipped again. He finished, but was eighth. For a couple of days, Jansen was so discouraged he said he wouldn’t skate the 1,000.

When he got to the starting line, Jansen said later, he was without much hope. But as the starting gun fired, he felt a jolt of electricity. With the Norwegian crowd loudly in his corner, Jansen was on a world-record pace at 600 meters. Even when he slipped in the second-to-last turn, the feeling was different. Jansen kept going. As he crossed the finish line, he tried to find the clock.

But Jansen didn’t really need the clock. The crowd told him the result--a world record. Jansen watched for nearly 40 minutes as the rest of the field continued, but no one threatened his time.

It was then that Robin passed little Jane down through the crowd. As the national anthem played, Jansen pointed to the sky, acknowledging his sister, Jane.

Jansen didn’t return calls for this story, but in other reports he has said his life is good. The divorce was painful, but he recovered. He’s near his girls, and his parents live in North Carolina too.

Diane Pucin