Dr. Samuel "Sammy" Lee. A doctor. A diver. The First Asian American to win a gold medal for the United States.
Samuel Lee was born in Fresno, California in 1920 to Korean immigrants who had settled in Hawaii in 1905. Sammy Lee began diving at a very young age and trained for years to accomplish his dreams of one day competing in the World Olympics. The Olympics is a competition bringing in the best athletes from all over the world to compete in various types of sporting events. It is a fundamental element in pop culture, a tradition that has been enjoyed by people everywhere since ancient Roman times. It is this big stage that Sammy was aiming for. Since he was 12 years old, he trained for 16 years to finally be good enough to show the world his talent.
However, this did not come without struggle. Lee would train in the pool in Pasadena, California where rules were very strict. People of color, like himself, could only use the pool once a week, which had to be drained and filled with fresh water that same night. These strict rules are accurate to the kind of racism that occurred during the time. An influx of Asians were coming into America around the time of the gold rush in hopes of attaining a lucky fortune. This caused a "terror" among white people who feared that the Chinese would take all the jobs and ruin the working economy. This fear came to be known as "yellow peril". Despite the yellow peril, however, Lee continued to train as hard as he could despite the racism he faced during his training which even caused him to become ashamed of his heritage. Lee's father responded to that by saying,
In 1948, Lee took his diving talents to compete in the summer Olympics in London. Sammy knew that no Asian American had ever won a gold medal in the Olympics. All gold medalists before him were typically white. For Lee to come into this competition with his eyes on the gold medal was a historical feat within itself. After a spectacular 16-second, three-and-a-half somersault dive, Lee became an Olympic champion and the first Asian-American Olympic gold medalist. In 1952, Lee won a gold medal in the platform diving competition, making him the first male athlete to win 2 gold medals
in that event. Soon after, Lee put his doctoral skills to use serving as a doctor in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in World War II. He went back to diving in 1960 not as the athlete, but as a coach of the U.S. Olympic Diving Team. Lee has paved the way for Asian American athletes not only in the Olympics, but in American sports as well. Coached by Lee, Samoan American, Greg Lougains won gold medals in Olympic springboard and platform diving in 1984. Other Asian American athletes would proceed to win gold medals in weightlifting, swimming, figure skating and more. Sammy Lee paved the way for athletes like Japanese American Kristi Yamaguchi and Chinese American Michelle Kwan who have won gold medals in Olympic figure skating, breaking the mold of the what was thought to be the typical Olympian gold medalist.
Lawrence Dalusung
Samuel Lee was born in Fresno, California in 1920 to Korean immigrants who had settled in Hawaii in 1905. Sammy Lee began diving at a very young age and trained for years to accomplish his dreams of one day competing in the World Olympics. The Olympics is a competition bringing in the best athletes from all over the world to compete in various types of sporting events. It is a fundamental element in pop culture, a tradition that has been enjoyed by people everywhere since ancient Roman times. It is this big stage that Sammy was aiming for. Since he was 12 years old, he trained for 16 years to finally be good enough to show the world his talent.
However, this did not come without struggle. Lee would train in the pool in Pasadena, California where rules were very strict. People of color, like himself, could only use the pool once a week, which had to be drained and filled with fresh water that same night. These strict rules are accurate to the kind of racism that occurred during the time. An influx of Asians were coming into America around the time of the gold rush in hopes of attaining a lucky fortune. This caused a "terror" among white people who feared that the Chinese would take all the jobs and ruin the working economy. This fear came to be known as "yellow peril". Despite the yellow peril, however, Lee continued to train as hard as he could despite the racism he faced during his training which even caused him to become ashamed of his heritage. Lee's father responded to that by saying,
"Son, if you are not proud of the shape of your eyes and the color of your skin, how can your classmates respect you?"
Lee's talent was discovered by his diving coach who trained him to eventually make it to the U.S. National Diving Team in 1942. In 1947, Lee was even able to satisfy his father's wishes, receiving his medical degree at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. A year later, he would make history.Those words were all Lee needed to rekindle his dream of becoming an Olympic champion.
In 1948, Lee took his diving talents to compete in the summer Olympics in London. Sammy knew that no Asian American had ever won a gold medal in the Olympics. All gold medalists before him were typically white. For Lee to come into this competition with his eyes on the gold medal was a historical feat within itself. After a spectacular 16-second, three-and-a-half somersault dive, Lee became an Olympic champion and the first Asian-American Olympic gold medalist. In 1952, Lee won a gold medal in the platform diving competition, making him the first male athlete to win 2 gold medals
in that event. Soon after, Lee put his doctoral skills to use serving as a doctor in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in World War II. He went back to diving in 1960 not as the athlete, but as a coach of the U.S. Olympic Diving Team. Lee has paved the way for Asian American athletes not only in the Olympics, but in American sports as well. Coached by Lee, Samoan American, Greg Lougains won gold medals in Olympic springboard and platform diving in 1984. Other Asian American athletes would proceed to win gold medals in weightlifting, swimming, figure skating and more. Sammy Lee paved the way for athletes like Japanese American Kristi Yamaguchi and Chinese American Michelle Kwan who have won gold medals in Olympic figure skating, breaking the mold of the what was thought to be the typical Olympian gold medalist.Lawrence Dalusung
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