Sammy Lee (diver)

Samuel "Sammy" Lee (born August 1, 1920) is 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 who owned what he describes as "a little chop suey restaurant," and is of Korean descent. 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.

Sammy Lee

Sammy Lee may refer to:

See also

Sammy Lee (footballer)

Samuel "Sammy" Lee (born 7 February 1959) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a coach at Southampton. He had previously played for, managed and been the head of academy coaching and development at Bolton Wanderers. He played most of his career for hometown club Liverpool during the 1970s and 1980s as a midfielder, and also represented England fourteen times.

Playing career

Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Lee rose through the ranks at Liverpool after joining on an apprenticeship in September 1975, making his first team debut on 8 April 1978, as a 6th minute substitute for David Johnson. Leicester City at Anfield were the opponents, as Lee managed to find the net in the 56th minute of the 3–2 victory. A year earlier, he had been put in the squad for a huge European Cup semi-final against FC Zürich and, although he didn't play, manager Bob Paisley said he would have had no qualms about using him if required.

Lee became a regular from 1980 onwards and, although small in stature, he established a reputation as a sharp-passing and strong-running midfield player who could also hit a decent shot. In the 1981 League Cup final, Lee was at the centre of a controversial incident which left opponents West Ham United feeling slightly cheated. Lee had ventured forwards in an attack and ended up flat out on the turf following a challenge. The West Ham defence pushed out of their area to leave Lee in an offside position but when Liverpool full back Alan Kennedy scored with a follow-up shot, the goal stood. West Ham did equalise but Liverpool won the replay with Lee in the side.

Sammy Lee (scientist)

Sammy Lee (born Samuel Lee, 1958 – 21 July 2012) was an expert on fertility and in vitro fertilisation

He was a hospital scientific consultant and was the chief scientist at the Wellington IVF programme. His book Counselling in Male Infertility was published in 1996; he contributed to major newspaper articles and appeared on several current affairs television programmes. He was the "inspiration" for Anthony Ling, the character in the novel One Life by Rebecca Frayn (Simon & Schuster 2006, ISBN 0-7432-6876-8), after the author herself sought Lee's help for IVF treatment.

In 2010, Willing to Die for It, Lee's biography by Frances Lynn was published by Murray Print.

Current research

Lee's interests lay in the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. He was a visiting professor at the University College London where he collaborated with various groups in the Anatomy Department examining the potential of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells to give rise to neuronal/glial lineages in response to various growth factors and tissue culture manipulations. He also taught ethics of biomedicine at University College London.