usolympicteam.com

	26 Aug-10 Sept
Micki King Springboard champion bounces back from broken arm By Julie Eversgerd // usolympianteam.com Micki King never gives up. Headed into her last three dive attempts at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, King had set the standard and was leading all divers. Standing on the 3-meter springboard, King nailed the first with perfection leaving her just minutes away from taking the gold. However, it was in those few minutes that the shine of an Olympic medal slowly faded. King's second dive resulted in a broken limb after hitting her arm on the edge of the board during the attempt. Only two of the seven judges noticed the incident and her scores were sufficient to continue. Nevertheless, it was the third and final reverse one and a half somersault with one-and-a-half twists that stole all hopes of a medal. "It was the last dive that put me out of competition. I didn't realize it was going to hurt so much, but I had prepared myself to work around the little bump, which later turned out to be a broken arm," King said. "The dive got 2s and 3s and in a matter of 10 minutes I went from winning the Olympics to not even getting a medal." Needless to say King was devastated. Feeling as if she cheated herself, the United States Air Force lieutenant wanted to give up. "It was an incredible depression for me because you don't think of an Olympics as a multiple opportunity," King noted. "I was 24 years old when I went to Mexico City and I didn't want to make a comeback and be a flop -- I didn't want to come back and not go all the way." Focused and determined, King knew she would return. She extended her commitment in the Air Force in order to take time to train with her college coach, Dick Kimball. She battled her injury with rigorous workouts and hundreds of dives a week. King wanted two things -- a chance at Munich and a gold medal to carry home. "When I headed to Munich it was with a whole different attitude. This was my second Olympics, I was 28, I exceeded my commitment in the Air Force and had began a career path, but I still had this Olympic goal," King said. "I was a whole other personality type. The glamour and pageantry in Mexico was certainly in Munich, but I was looking beyond that and had one mission, to win the gold." Going into the finals in 1972, King ranked in a close third place behind two athletes from Sweden. Saving her strongest dives for the final round, King captured the judges, the fans and the gold with, ironically, the same reverse somersault twist that failed in Mexico. "The dive that lost it for me in Mexico was the dive I used to clean it up and put the final touch on in Munich. It definitely pulls my story together and brought home the gold," King said. Since her Olympic days, King feels honored to be a part of the Olympian medal club and has attended every Olympics through the following years. "That was a chapter in my life that is very special. I am not a former Olympian, I am an Olympian forever and you can't take that away from me," King stated. Following her success in 1972, King continued with her career aspirations in the Air Force and retired in 1992 as the commander of the ROTC detachment at the University of Kentucky. The very next day she became an Assistant Athletic Director at Kentucky, where she has remained to this day. Whether on the diving board or focusing on her career, Micki King never gives up.
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