Coleman, Georgia
Diving
b. Jan. 23, 1912, St. Maries, ID
d. Sept. 14, 1940
Just six months after she had begun diving competitively, Coleman won two medals in the 1928 Olympics, a silver in the platform and a bronze in the springboard. Four years later, she won two more medals, a gold in the springboard and another silver in the platform event.
An exceptionally athletic diver for her time, Coleman was the first woman to perform a 2½ forward somersault. She won the national outdoor springboard and platform championships from 1929 through 1931, the indoor 1-meter springboard in 1931, and the indoor 3-meter springboard from 1929 through 1932.
Coleman contracted polio in 1937. She learned to swim again, but she developed pneumonia as an aftermath of the polio and died at twenty-eight.