Samuel "Sammy" Lee (August 1, 1920 – December 2, 2016) was the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.

Life and career

Lee was born in Fresno, California to parents of Korean descent who owned what he describes as "a little chop suey restaurant,". His father, who was fluent in English, Korean and tutored in French, graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Occidental College, but was unable to find work due to his Asian ancestry. He was then forced to open a chop suey restaurant and market. As a twelve-year-old living near Los Angeles, Lee saw and was motivated by the many Olympics banners and souvenirs on display for the Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles that year. Later that summer, he found that he could do somersaults much better than all of his friends, which led to his goal of becoming an Olympic champion in diving.

Lee's parents moved to Highland Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. At the time, however, 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.

Under the tutelage of renowned diving coach Jim Ryan, Lee won the United States National Diving Championships in 1942 in both the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform events, becoming the first person of color to capture the United States national championship in diving. In 1946 he again triumphed at the 10-meter platform event while finishing 3rd at the 3-meter springboard competition at the national diving competition in San Diego, California. At the 1948 Summer Games in London, England, Lee earned a bronze medal in the 3-meter springboard and a gold medal in 10-meter platform diving events. Four years later, he won the gold medal in the 10-meter platform competition at Helsinki, Finland.

His accomplishments were not limited to the athletic field. Lee attended Franklin High School and later was a student-athlete at Occidental College, where he received his undergraduate degree before attending 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.

All of this accomplishment, however, did not mean the end of his experience with discrimination. In 1954 he faced housing discrimination in Garden Grove, 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 Lee looked elsewhere.)

Following Lee's diving career, he helped coach two-time diving gold medalist Bob Webster. Later, he coached Greg Louganis, who lived with Lee’s family before winning a silver medal in platform diving at at the 1976 Olympics at the age of 16.

A landmark, the Sammy Lee Square, at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles' Koreatown was named after him in 2010. He was also honored with a spot on the Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars in 2009. The Los Angeles Unified School District honored Lee by renaming Central Region Elementary School #20 as the Dr. Sammy Lee Medical and Health Sciences Magnet School in 2013.

Lee, who suffered from dementia and heart disease, died from complications of pneumonia on December 2, 2016 at his home in Newport Beach, California, aged 96. He is survived by his daughter, Pamela; a son, Sammy, and 3 grandchildren.