Lee is one of five Trojans in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. He was the first Asian American to win Olympic gold for the United States.Â
He became the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in platform diving by topping the podium at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He would go on to coach the U.S. diving team, including mentoring 5-time Olympic medalist Greg Louganis.
The inspirational diver, who has a square named in his honor at Olympic and Normandie in LA's Koreatown, achieved academic and athletic greatness in the face of intense racism. His ethnicity limited his access to his local pool in Fresno to just one day per week, so his coach dug him a sand pit in his backyard to practice on dry land.
Dr. Sammy Lee, who received his medical degree from USC in 1947, served in World War II as a Major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He would later practice medicine as an ear, nose and throat specialist.
Now 92, Lee represents USC's proud Olympic heritage, which will come full circle this summer as a fresh crop of Trojans descend upon London 64 years later.
(Top photo by Liz Baylen/Los Angeles Times)
