After his father Jim Shea, who competed in nordic combined and cross country skiing events in the 1964 Olympics and his grandfather Jack Shea, who won two gold medals in the 1932 Olympics in speed skating, he is the third generation of his family to take part in Winter Games. Although American media repeatedly claimed that he was the first third generation Olympian, this honor in fact belongs to the Norwegian Lunde family who placed their third generation in the Olympics in 1960.
He became the first American to win a World Cup race and a World Championship in the sport, and has more World Cup victories than any other American.