Irving Warren Jaffee (September 15, 1906 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
– March 20, 1981 in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
) was an American
speed skater
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...
who won two gold medals at the
1932 Winter Olympics
The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 ...
, becoming the most successful athlete there along with his compatriot
Jack Shea.
It was the first time two Americans had won medals in speed skating at a Winter Olympics.
Early life
Jaffee, who was
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
,
was born to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Russia in 1896. He grew up in the
Crotona Park section of
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
,
where he played baseball with future Hall of Famer
Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), p ...
. He briefly attended
DeWitt Clinton High School
DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...
, but dropped out after failing to make the varsity baseball team.
Career
At age 14, Jaffee took up skating at the Gay Blades of Iceland rink (which later became the
Roseland Ballroom
The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's Theater District, New York, theater district, on 52nd Street (Manhattan), West 52nd Street in Manhattan ...
). 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. He finally won the
Silver Skates two-mile race in 1926, won the national five-mile event the following year,
and qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1928.
1928 Olympics
At the
1928 Winter Olympics
The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1928 (; ), were an international winter multi-sport event that was celebrated from 11 to 19 February 1928 in St. Moritz, Swit ...
in
St. Moritz
St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...
, Jaffee finished fourth in the
5,000-meter skate, the best finish by an American in that event to that date.
In the following
10,000-meter race, Jaffee was leading the competition, having outskated Norwegian defending world champion
Bernt Evensen
Bernt Sverre Evensen (18 April 1905 – 24 August 1979) was a Norway, Norwegian Speed skating, speed skater and racing cyclist who competed in skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, 1928 and 1932 Winter Olympics.
In 1928 he became the first Norwe ...
in their heat, when rising temperatures thawed the ice.
In a controversial ruling, the Norwegian referee canceled the entire competition.
Although the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
reversed the referee's decision and awarded Jaffee the gold medal, the
International Skating Union
The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...
later overruled the IOC and restored the ruling.
Evensen, for his part, publicly said that Jaffee should be awarded the gold medal, but that never happened.
Regardless of the official rulings, Jaffee's performance made him a national sports hero.
That year he also set a world record in the mile (2:30.6).
1932 Olympics
Jaffee competed again at the 1932 Winter Olympics in
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205.
The village of Lake Placid ...
.
At the time, Jaffee recalled, there were signs in Lake Placid that said "No dogs or Jews allowed".
There, he won gold medals in both the 5,000 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
Frank Huntington Stack (born October 31, 1937, in Houston, Texas) is an American underground comix, underground cartoonist and fine artist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the Bible Belt ...
and
Ivar Ballangrud. As he had in other races, Jaffee's accomplishment astounded the skating world, as few American skaters had ever rivalled their European competitors.
["Obituary, Irving Jaffee", ''San Francisco Examiner'', San Francisco, California, pg. 16, 21 March 1981]
In December 1932, his manager announced that Jaffee, and also
Ivar Ballangrud, would turn professional.
Jaffee's professional career was aided by Postmaster General
James Farley
James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and United States Postmaster Gener ...
. Jaffee went on a ten-city professional tour, and later went into the skate manufacturing business, achieving success for a time as a businessman.
Maccabiah Games
He served on the American board for the
Second Maccabiah Games, held in Israel from April 2 to 10, 1935, despite official opposition by the British Mandatory government, along with
Benny Leonard
Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was an American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ranked ...
and
Nat Holman
Nat Holman (born Nathan Helmanowich; October 19, 1896 – February 12, 1995) was an American professional basketball player and college coach. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is the only coach to lead his team ...
.
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, the unemployed Jaffee ended up on bread lines and was forced to
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pa ...
his Olympic and other medals for $3500.
After he obtained a job on
Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
, he went to redeem his medals, only to learn the pawn shop had gone out of business: he never saw the medals again.
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. breaking the 30-year-old record by five minutes.
Jaffee also served as a coach to several Olympic speed skaters.
Jaffee appeared in a full-page ad for
Camel cigarettes
Camel is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and by Japan Tobacco outside the U.S. Most recently Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Vi ...
in 1934, entitled "It Takes Healthy Nerves for Jaffee to be the World's Champion Skater; Steady Smokers Turn to Camels".
Honors
Jaffee was elected to the
United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1940 and the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. He died in San Diego in 1981.
See also
*
List of select Jewish speed skaters
References
External links
Harold and Meir Ribalow, "Irving Jaffee: Olympian Speedster", Jewsinsports.com HickokSports.com profile, with photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffee, Irving
1906 births
1981 deaths
Sportspeople from the Bronx
Speed skaters from New York City
American male speed skaters
Speed skaters at the 1928 Winter Olympics
Speed skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in speed skating
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Jewish American sportspeople
Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American sportsmen