COLEMAN, GEORGIA

born Jan. 23, 1912, St. Maries, Idaho, U.S. died Sept. 14, 1940, Los Angeles, Calif. American diver, the first woman to perform a two and a half forward somersault dive in competition. She won several Olympic medals, including a gold in the springboard event. Coleman had been diving for just six months when she entered the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, where she won a silver medal in the 10-metre platform competition and a bronze in the 3-metre springboard. An athletic diver, Coleman dominated the U.S. national diving championships over the next several years, winning the outdoor springboard and platform titles (192931) and the indoor 1-metre (1931) and 3-metre (192932) springboard events. At the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the 3-metre springboard competition and another silver in the 10-metre platform. In 1937 Coleman contracted polio; three years later, at the age of 28, she died after developing pneumonia.