Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete. Born Samuel Lee, he was a two-time Olympic gold medalist in platform diving. He graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School, attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Occidental College and then a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Southern California. He was inspired by the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California to become a diver. By 1942 he was the AAU national champion in platform and springboard diving, becoming the first person of color to win that title. He would go on to win another national title in 1946. At the 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London, England, he won the first of his two gold medals in platform diving and became first Asian-American to win gold for the United States. He also won a bronze medal in the 3-meter springboard event at the same Olympics. Four years later in during the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, he captured his second gold in platform diving, becoming the oldest to win up to that date. He went on to serve in the United States Army Medical Corps in Korea from 1953 to 1955, 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. After his own diving career ended, he not only coached the United States diving team in 1960 and 1964, but also individually coached Olympic champions Pat McCormick, Bob Webster, and four-time champion Greg Louganis. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968 and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990. He has a square named after him at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Normandie Avenue in Koreatown in Los Angeles. A diving tower at USC and the Dr. Sammy Lee Medical and Health Science Magnet Elementary School on Council Street in Los Angeles also bear his name. He passed away from complications from pneumonia.