Kenneth Sitzberger

Kenneth Sitzberger

Personal information
Born	February 13, 1945
Died	January 2, 1984
Medal record Men's diving Representing the United States Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Springboard Pan American Games 1963 São Paulo Springboard

Kenneth ("Ken") Robert Sitzberger (February 13, 1945 – January 2, 1984) was a diver from the United States and Olympic champion. He represented his native country at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he received a gold medal.

Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Sitzberger was trailing U. S. teammate Frank Gorman after nine of the ten dives in the springboard competition at the 1964 Olympics, but Gorman performed poorly on his last dive and Sitzberger was nearly flawless, winning the gold medal.

As a student at Indiana University, Sitzberger won the AAU national indoor 1-meter and 3-meter springboard championships in 1964 and 1965. He was the NCAA champion in the 1-meter from 1965 through 1967, in the 3-meter in 1966 and 1967.

He married Jeanne Collier, who won a silver medal in the women's Olympic springboard in 1964.

He died under rather mysterious circumstances in Coronado, California. He was brought to a hospital unconscious and died shortly afterward. His wife said that he had fallen and hit his head on a table during a New Year's Eve party and had been complaining of headaches before losing consciousness.

The death of the former Olympic diving champion was ruled an accident.

Acting on the release of the coroner's report, San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Bob Blum said that there was no criminal cause in the death of Mr. Sitzberger.

The Coronado police said Mr. Sitzberger twice picked fights with another man at the party, and in the second scuffle he struck his head, probably on a couch. He died of a brain hemorrhage the next morning, according to the coroner's report.

Mr. Sitzberger, who worked part- time as an ABC television commentator, fought with a guest who was a family friend, according to a police investigator, Ed Sousek, who indicated the argument was a personal matter.

The guest refused to fight, witnesses said. Mr. Sitzberger appeared uninjured after he fell, but he went to bed complaining of a headache and apparently died in his sleep.

Because Sitzberger had been subpoenaed as a federal witness in a cocaine-trafficking case, police investigated his death further, but discovered no evidence of foul play.

References

• sports-reference