Springboard, Men

American Frank Gorman led this competition for the first eight dives, trailed at that point by his teammates Ken Sitzberger and Larry Andreasen. But Gorman’s ninth dive was a 2½ somersault tuck and he failed badly, scoring only 10.08 points to drop behind Sitzerberger. Andreasen also stumbled on his penultimate dive, but remained in third place. Sitzberger cemented the gold medal on his final effort, a back 1½ with 2½ twists. Gorman and Andreasen held on to finish second and third, respectively, as the Americans swept the medals, the last medal sweep in diving at the Olympics. Since 1984 only two divers are allowed per event, so this can no longer happen.

Japan’s Shunsuke Kaneto hit the springboard hard on his seventh (and final) dive, a 1½ with 1½ twists, sustaining an injured jaw, and was rushed to the hospital after being pulled from the water by Andreasen. But he was able to return and dive on platform a few days later.

Gorman was a Naval officer in 1964 but later went into investment banking. Life would not be so sweet for Sitzberger or Andreasen. It started out well for Sitzberger, who married Jeanne Collier, the 1964 women’s springboard silver medalist, but he died from a head injury after an altercation at a party. It was later revealed that he was soon to be a federal witness in a cocaine-trafficking investigation, and questions were raised about the circumstances of his death, but it was eventually ruled to be an accident.

In the 1980s Andreasen became obsessed with jumping off high bridges, diving 160 feet off the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach, California. He then made several attempts to dive off the West Tower of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles Harbour, from a height of 385 feet, but was usually pulled off the bridge by authorities. However, on 26 October 1990 he attempted the dive, only to die from the injuries he sustained.