Melissa Belote
Belote c. 1972
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Melissa Louise Belote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
October 16, 1956 Washington, D.C. |
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| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 132 lb (60 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Solotar Swim Club; Springfield Swim and Racquet Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Arizona State University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Melissa Louise Belote (born October 16, 1956), also known by her current married name Melissa Belote Ripley, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in two events. She represented the United States at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.
Belote was born in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Springfield, Virginia, was a member of the Springfield Swim and Racquet Club, and attended Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County, Virginia.
At 15 years old, she won three gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. In the women's 100-meter backstroke, Belote defeated her American teammate and world-record holder Susie Atwood. In the women's 200-meter backstroke, Belote set a new world record of 2:19.19. She won a third gold medal by swimming the lead-off backstroke leg for the winning U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay. She and her teammates Cathy Carr (breaststroke), Deena Deardurff (butterfly), and Sandy Neilson (freestyle) set a new world record of 4:20.75 in the relay final.
She attended Arizona State University, where she swam for the Arizona State Sun Devils swimming and diving team in Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) competition. She received the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year in 1976–77.
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