Sammy Lee, born August 1, 1920 in Fresno, California to Korean parents, was the first Asian American man to win an Olympic gold medal for the US and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in platform diving.
He received a degree in civil engineering from Occidental College, and then received his MD from the University of Southern California School of Medicine in 1947. At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Lee earned the bronze metal in the 3-meter springboard and a gold medal in the 10-meter platform events. He became the first Asian American man to win a gold medal and the second Asian American to earn the gold, since Vicki Draves won a gold medal just two days earlier in the springboard diving event.
In 1952, he was a major in the US Army Medical Corps. He expected to be sent to the Korean War, but was sent to the Olympic Games in Helsinki instead. He won the gold medal in the 10-meter platform, making him the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in platform diving.
Lee continued to serve in the Medical Corps in South Korea from 1953-1955, where he specialized in the diseases of the ear. He practiced as an ear, nose, and throat doctor for 35 more years until his retirement in 1990.
He passed away in Newport Beach, California in December 2016.
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