Draves was the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal
Google Doodle is celebrating Filipino American Olympic diver Vicki Draves. The tech giant shared images of Draves diving into a pool and another picture of her sporting her two gold medals.
Today in 1948, Draves made history by becoming the first first Asian-American woman to win a medal at the Olympics.
Winning gold in the women’s 3-meter springboard event at the London Summer Olympics, Draves achieved the win amid Asian discrimination in America following the Pearl Harbour attacks in 1941.
Draves family revealed that she was not allowed in the “swanky pools and clubs” and public pools often drained the pools after she finished training there.
The Asian athlete also won three consecutive U.S. National Diving Championship platform titles and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1969.
Draves had four sons David, Jeff, Dale and Kim, and passed away at the age of 85 in 2010.
“With all the success and fame my parents received for their amazing achievements and contributions to the sport of diving, the one thing they both showed my brothers and I was humility,” David said of his mother.
“To win was one thing, but to be gracious and humble were the attributes of a true ‘Champion.'”
“Like my brothers, I also value the important virtues my mother instilled in our lives,” Jeff added. “She was a famed Olympic medalist, so there was plenty of opportunity to teach us about arrogance and conceit.”
“But instead, through how she lived her life, she taught us the importance of humility and humbleness. Similarly, her influence showed me that nothing was more important than family.”
In 2018, commemorated Bambi artist Tyrus Wong’s 108th birthday.