Micki King (USA)

Honor Diver (1978)

FOR THE RECORD:  OLYMPIC GAMES: 1968 4th (springboard); 1972 gold (springboard); NATIONAL AAU Diving Titles: 9; NATIONAL AAU Water Polo Titles: 2; CANADIAN NATIONAL TITLES: 2 (1m springboard), 2 (3m springboard); WOMEN’S NATIONAL COLLEGIATE Title (DGWS): 1First woman to compete in the Military International Sports Council Games (CISM); Diver of the year: 1965, 1969, 1972 (springboard); 1969 (platform); First woman coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

1968, at the Mexico Olympic Games, Micki King led all women divers with two dives to go.  Her Olympic gold medal was all but in the bag when on dive number 9, a reverse 1 1/2 somersault, she hit the board and broke her arm.  She completed her last dive and finished fourth.  There followed months in a cast, a year of recovery, three more years of getting back in top form, and trying again in 1972.  This time she won.  An Air Force officer and the Air Academy’s first woman coach, Micki missed winning the first woman’s Superstars on the last event when she skimmed and toppled a hurdle for a five second penalty.  She won a National Collegiate swimming title at Michigan and was twice the winning goalie for Ann Arbor at the Women’s National AAU Water Polo Nationals.  An excellent speaker, Micki was also advance person for the Air Force Football Team.