Charley Jewtraw

On 26 January 1924, Charley Jewtraw wrote his name indelibly into the Olympic record book. On that date he won the 500 meter speed skating event to become the first gold medalist ever at the Olympic Winter Games. Jewtraw was no fluke as a champion. He had been United States champion in both 1921 and 1923 and was a renowned sprinter, holding the American record for 100 yards on skates (9.4 seconds).

After his Olympic victory Jewtraw left Lake Placid and moved to New York, where he initially became a sporting goods representative with the Spalding Company. He gave skating exhibitions for Spalding and then worked as the manager of the Spalding Store at the Lake Placid Club. In 1929 Jewtraw moved back to New York where he worked in the men’s department at Macy’s, until he lost that job in 1933 during the depression. In 1938 he began working as rink custodian and skating instructor at the Gay Blade, a skating emporium in New York City. He did that for two years but then worked from 1940-62 as a security guard at the First National City Bank in New York. Jewtraw and his wife, Natalie, later retired to Palm Beach, Florida.

Personal Bests: 500 – 44.0 (1924); 1500 – 2:31.6 (1924); 5000 – 9:27.0 (1924).