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Sammy Lee was an American diver, who
won the gold medal in platform diving at the Olympic Games in
1948 and 1952. He was the first man to win diving titles at
two consecutive Olympics. Samuel Lee was born in Fresno, California,
and educated at Occidental College and the University of Southern
California Medical School. He won the United States national
title in both springboard and platform diving in 1942, but he
then stopped competing in order to earn his medical degree.
Lee returned to diving, however, winning the 1946 U.S. national
platform title. At the 1948 Olympics in London he won the platform
event and placed third in the springboard competition. He was
the first American-born athlete of Korean descent to win an
Olympic gold medal. Four years later at the 1952 Olympics in
Helsinki, Finland, Lee successfully defended his title in the
platform competition. In 1953 he won the James E. Sullivan Memorial
Award, given annually by the Amateur Athletic Union of the United
States (AAU) to the outstanding amateur athlete in the country.
Lee retired from competitive diving in 1953, but he remained
involved with the sport while pursuing a career as a doctor.
He coached the U.S. diving team in 1960, and he later coached
American Greg Louganis to a silver medal in the platform event
at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Lee was inducted
into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990. |
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