Marjorie Gestring (November 18, 1922 – April 20, 1992) was a competitive springboard diver from the United States….who at the age of 13 years and 268 days old…..won the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1936 Berlin Games….making her, at the time, the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal….while still remaining the second-youngest winner. Gestring was multi-time national diving champion in the United States….and 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 was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame…..and we at ImaSportsphile are “tickled pink” to have this video clip of her competing in Berlin…..especially with Jim McKay making the call.
In the tryouts for the 1936 Summer Olympics for the United States team….Gestring placed second behind Katherine Rawls in qualifying in the 3-meter springboard event…..and she became the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal in what was considered to be an upset, given her competition. Her final dive won her the competition…as seen in this video herewith….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….while Rawls and Gestring were described as being in a “duel” for the gold medal in front of 15,000 spectators
