Olympic gold-winning diver
Born: August 1, 1920;
Died: December 2, 2016
SAMMY Lee, who has died aged 96, was a two-time Olympic medal-winning diver and the first Asian-American man to earn gold at the event. He was also the first American to win consecutive gold medals in Olympic platform diving.
His triumphs came at the 1948 Olympics in London and the 1952 event in Helsinki. In 1948, he won gold in the 10m platform diving and a bronze in the 3m springboard; four years later, he again won gold in the 10m platform event.
However, as an Asian American man, it had not been easy. Even as he was learning to swim as a child, he experienced prejudice - he could only use the pool on Wednesdays as it was reserved for whites at all other times - and after taking Olympic gold, his race was still a problem. While looking to buy a home in Orange County, California, he was told by estate agents that they could not sell to a non-white.
Lee was determined to succeed however as he had promised his father as a child that he would someday be an Olympian after seeing American athletes taking all the diving medals at the 1932 Olympics.
He was born in Fresno, California, where his parents, who were of Korean descent, ran a restaurant; he trained as a doctor at the University of Southern California Medical School, graduating in 1947. He was the AAU national champion in platform and springboard diving in 1942, becoming the first person of colour to win a national diving title, and in platform in 1946. He won the 1953 Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete.
After graduating, he joined the army and served as a medical officer during the Korean War, leaving the service in 1955. It was then that he tried to settle in Orange County to open his own practice. At first, he wanted to buy a property in a new development but one estate agent told him that he would lose his job for selling to a non-white.
However, word spread that an Olympian and war veteran was being refused a property because he was Asian American and the affair became a national scandal. There were many offers for help, including one from President Nixon, and Lee eventually bought a home in Garden Grove, whose residents held a welcome party for him.
Lee said the welcome he received renewed his belief in the American people. “Whenever I was asked by people in the Far East how America treated Oriental people, I told them the truth,” he said. “I said Americans had their shortcomings, but they had guts enough to advertise them, whereas others try to cover them up.”
Lee practised as an ear, nose and throat specialist for 35 years but always remained involved in diving, mentoring young divers including four-time Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis. He also coached diving champion Pat McCormick and the US team at the 1960 and ’64 Olympics and was an ambassador to the Olympics for several presidents.
He remained an active swimmer and golfer into his 90s and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968 and US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990.
The University of Southern California said Lee died of pneumonia. He was the school’s oldest living Olympian. He is survived by his wife, Roz, children Pamela and Sammy II and three grandchildren.
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