Micki King

Micki King
Medal record
Women's diving
Olympic Games

Maxine Joyce "Micki" King (born July 26, 1944, in Pontiac, Michigan) is a former diver and diving coach. She was a gold medal winner at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the three meter springboard event.

She was the dominant figure in women's diving in the United States from 1965 to 1972, winning 10 national championships, including both springboard and platform events. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, she was in first place in the three meter springboard event when whe broke her left arm on the ninth dive; she completed the tenth but finished in fourth place. In 1972, she made a comeback at the Munich Olympics, winning the gold medal in the three-meter event.

King served in the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1992. She taught physical education and coached diving at the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming the first woman to serve on the faculty of a U.S military academy and the first woman to coach a male athlete to an NCAA championship. She was named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year three times. From 1992-2006, King was assistant athletic director at the University of Kentucky. She was also the president of U.S. Diving from 1990-1994. She was a gold medal winner at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the three meter springboard event. She has been inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, the International Womens Sports Hall of Fame, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.

Early years

King was the daughter of a General Motors line worker in Pontiac, Michigan. She developed a love of water sports at her family’s cottage in Waterford, Michigan. She began diving at age ten through lessons at the YMCA in downtown Pontiac. She attended Pontiac Central High School. Throughout high school she entered and won AAU meets regularly.

University of Michign and Ann Arbor Swim Club

King attended the University of Michigan from 1961-1965. Although the University did not have a women’s diving program, men’s diving coach, Dick Kimball, recognized her potential and trained her in an unofficial capacity. Kimball taught King to do men’s dives. Working with Kimball, she became the first woman to master a number of dives, including a 1-1/2 somersault dive with a 2-1/2 twist on a ten-meter tower. King recalled, “One of Coach Kimball’s greatest lines was that he didn’t coach men or women he coached people. He taught me dives that no woman had ever done before. I pioneered those dives. Coach Kimball knew that we were a team of people.” King recalled that Kimball would “sneak us through the back doors” to practice with the men’s team.

She was the dominant figure in women’s diving in the United States from 1965 to 1972. In 1965, competing for the Ann Arbor Swim Club (since Michigan did not have a team), King was the U.S. national indoor platform champion, the national outdoor three-meter champion and was named Diver of the Year. After graduating from Michigan, King joined the U.S. Air Force in 1966 and was assigned to the Air Force ROTC program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she continued to train with Dick Kimball. In all, King won ten U.S. national diving championships in the outdoor three-meter springboard (1965, 1967, 1969, 1970), one meter (1967), platform (1969), and indoor three-meter springboard (1965, 1971).

King also excelled in water polo. She led the Ann Arbor Swim Club to two AAU national championships (1961-1963) and was twice named an All-American goalie.

1968 and 1972 Olympic Games

Going into the 1968 Summer Olympics, King was the favorite in the three-meter competition. She was popular with American diving fans not only for her diving ability but also for her personality and good looks. A 1967 Associated Press article described her as “shapely” and “a vivacious, blue-eyed blond, who does justice to a bathing suit.” She is remembered for her courageous performance in the 1968 Summer Olympics in which she was in first place when she broke her left forearm on her ninth dive. She finished the competition with a broken arm, but dropped into fourth place. She made an Olympic comeback and won the gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in the three-meter springboard event.

U.S. Air Force

King also had a 26-year career in the U.S. Air Force from 1966-1992. In 1973, she was assigned to instruct physical education at the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming the first woman to hold a faculty position at a U.S. military academy.^[1]^[2] She also coached the Air Force Academy’s diving team, where she was the first and only female coach in any sport to coach a male athlete to an NCAA championship.^[1]^[3] She coached Air Force divers to 11 All-America honors and four national titles, and was twice named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year. In 1992, King retired from the Air Force as a full colonel.

In 1976, King married Air Force pilot, Jim Hogue, and she changed her name during the marriage to Micki King Hogue. In 1982, King had a daughter, Michelle Hogue.

While serving in the Air Force, King was a member of the committee that led the way for women to be admitted to the U.S. military academies. King’s daughter, Michelle Hogue, graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2004. At the time, King noted, “Never once in the two years of committee work did I ever dream that my own daughter would be a beneficiary.” On her graduation, King’s daughter presented Kin with a class ring from the Academy. “She said if anybody should have a class ring, I should.”

University of Kentucky

In 1992, King became an assistant athletic director and senior women's administrator at the University of Kentucky where she remained for 14 years. She was also the first woman to command Kentucky’s ROTC detachment. King was relieved of her duties as part of a major shake-up in the Kentucky athletics department in May 2006.^[4]

Continued involvement in Olympic diving

She has remained active in Olympic diving over the years. King was a color commentator on ABC television’s coverage of the 1976 Summer Olympics. She had been scheduled to do the color commentary at the 1980 Moscow games that were boycotted by the United States. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, King was the team leader for the U.S. diving team. From 1990 to 1994, King was the president of U.S. Diving, the governing body for USA divers, and attended the 1992 Summer Olympics in that capacity. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, King was again the Olympic Team leader for USA divers.

Women's Sports Foundation

In 1974, King was one of the founders of the Women’s Sports Foundation along with Billie Jean King, Donna de Varona, and Sheila Young. She was a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees from 1988-1990 and has served on its Board of Stewards since 1990.

Awards and honors

She has received numerous awards and honors, including the following:

In 1978, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1978.
She was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. She was the first diver inducted, and only 20 athletes were inducted before King.
In 1986, King was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. She was the first woman inducted.
In 1988, King received the Glenn McCormick Annual Award presented by U.S. Diving for outstanding contributions to the sport of diving.
In 1992, she was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
In 1993, she was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1994, the University of Michigan “M” Club awarded King an Honorary “M.” When King attended Michigan, women’s diving was not a varsity sport, and she therefore did not receive a varsity letter during her years as a student.
In 2001, King received the Phil Boggs Award for individual excellence in diving and for giving back to the sport.

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Micki King". Women's Sports Foundation.
^ "Micki King". MSN Encarta.
^ "King Elected to Olympians Post". University of Kentucky.
^ "UK cuts 3 positions in athletics department". Lexington Herald-Leader. 2006-05-23.

References

[WSF-1] "Micki King". Women's Sports Foundation.

[2] "Micki King". MSN Encarta.

[Olympians-3] "King Elected to Olympians Post". University of Kentucky.

[4] "UK cuts 3 positions in athletics department". Lexington Herald-Leader. 2006-05-23.

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