Marjorie Gestring
Gestring in 1936
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| Personal information | ||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||
| Born | November 18, 1922 | |||||||||
| Died | April 20, 1992 (aged 69) Hillsborough, California |
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| Sport | ||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||
| Sport | Diving | |||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||
| National finals |
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| Olympic finals | 1936 Summer Olympics: 3 m springboard – Gold | |||||||||
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Medal record
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Marjorie Gestring (November 18, 1922 – April 20, 1992) was a competitive springboard diver from the United States. At the age of 13 years and 268 days, she won the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, making her, at the time, the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal. (She remains the second-youngest winner.) A multi-time national diving champion in the United States, she was given a second Olympic gold medal by the United States Olympic Committee after the 1940 Summer Olympics were called off due to the advent of World War II. Gestring attempted to return to the Olympics at the 1948 Games, but failed to qualify for the US team. She has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.
Gestring won her first major title at the Amateur Athletic Union meeting at Chicago in 1936.
In the tryouts for the 1936 Summer Olympics for the United States team, she placed second behind Katherine Rawls in qualifying in the 3-meter springboard event. Gestring became the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal at the age of 13 years and 268 days, in what was considered to be an upset, given her competition. Her final dive won her the competition, and her rival Rawls, who had already recognised that the dive had given the Gold medal to Gestring instead of her, greeted Gestring as she left the pool. The winning score was 89.27, while Rawls' score was 88.35. Gestring was part of an all-American top three in the final round, with Rawls winning silver and Dorothy Poynton-Hill winning bronze. Rawls and Gestring were described as being in a "duel" for the gold medal, in front of 15,000 spectators.
Following her Olympic victory, Gestring competed in national championships in the run-up to the next Games. She won the US national title for 3-meter springboard in both 1938 and 1939. She also won the regional Far Western and Arizona State swimming championships in 1937.
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