Sammy Lee (diver)
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's diving | ||
Representing the  United States |
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| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 1948 London | 10 m platform |
| Gold | 1952 Helsinki | 10 m platform |
| Bronze | 1948 London | 3 m springboard |
Dr. Samuel ("Sammy") Lee (born August 1, 1920) is the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States[1] and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.
Life and career [edit]
He was born in Fresno, California to parents who owned what he describes as "a little chop suey restaurant,"[2] and is of Korean descent.
As a twelve-year-old in 1932, Lee dreamed of becoming a diver. His parents moved to Highland Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. But at the time Latinos, Asians and African-Americans were only allowed to use the nearby Brookside Park Plunge in Pasadena, on Wednesdays, on what was called "international day": the day before the pool was scheduled to be drained and refilled with clean water. Because Lee needed a place to practice and could not regularly use the public pool, his coach dug a pit in his backyard and filled it with sand. Lee practiced by jumping into the pit.[3]
Lee won a gold medal in the 10 meter platform and bronze medal in springboard diving in the 1948 games. He later won a gold medal in the 10 meter platform in 1952. His accomplishments were not limited to the athletic field. Lee was a student-athlete at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, where he received his M.D. in 1947. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Korea from 1953–55, where he specialized in the diseases of the ear. In 1953, while serving his tour of duty in Korea, he won the James E. Sullivan Award, which is awarded annually by the Amateur Athletic Union to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. He went on to coach Olympic divers including Pat McCormick, Bob Webster, and Greg Louganis. He is a member of the US Olympic Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately, all of this accomplishment did not mean the end of his experience with discrimination. In the later 1950s, he faced housing discrimination – in Orange County, California, where he attempted to buy a home only to be told he could not, and in one case having nearby residents gather petition signatures to 'disallow' or discourage him from buying in 'their' neighborhood. (In the latter case, a counterpetition sought to rectify this prejudice but the discriminatory effect had been achieved and Sammy looked elsewhere.) [4][5]
A landmark, the Sammy Lee Square, at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles' Koreatown was named after him.[6]
References [edit]
- ^ Steve Almasy: After 60 years, Olympians are fast friends again, CNN.com, 22 Aug 2008
- ^ Juan Williams and David Halberstam, My Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience, Sterling (May 28, 2004)
- ^ Jane Margolis, Stuck In the Shallow End: Education, Race and Computing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008
- ^ http://calstate.fullerton.edu/inside/2011sp/Fair-Housing-Discussion.asp
- ^ http://fullertonarboretum.org/pdf/SpecialPanelDiscussion-FairHousingOCDuringColdWar.pdf
- ^ LA Square Named After Korean-American Diver
External links [edit]
- Sammy Lee on The Asians in America page
- Sammy Lee on hickoksports.com
- Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story written by Paula Yoo, illustrated by Dom Lee, (LEE & LOW BOOKS, 2005), ISBN 978-1-58430-247-6. The inspirational true story of Sammy Lee, a Korean American who overcame discrimination to realize both his father’s desire that he become a doctor and his own dream of becoming an Olympic champion diver.
- Sammy Lee's profile at Sports Reference.com
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- 1920 births
- Living people
- American divers
- American people of Korean descent
- James E. Sullivan Award recipients
- Olympic divers of the United States
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Divers at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Divers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from California
- University of Southern California alumni
- American military physicians
- United States Army officers
- People from Fresno, California
- Olympic medalists in diving
- Male divers
- Occidental College alumni
