Sohn Kee-Chung became the first Korean to win an Olympic gold in marathon at the 1936 Berlin Games, and Dr. Sammy Lee the first Korean American to win an Olympic gold in diving in the 1948 London Games.

 

 And destiny willed the pair to get together in 1947 in Los Angeles when Lee dived in exhibition at a fundraiser for that year’s Boston Marathon winning Korean team coached by Sohn.  

 

At the Berlin Games in Nazi Germany, ardent nationalist Sohn publicly lamented having to compete under Japanese flag and openly wept when it was raised during his medal presentation ceremony. Japanese authorities banned him from taking part in future running events. But Sohn carried his national flag at the 1948 London Games’ opening ceremony, when Korea participated as an independent nation.

 

In 1964, the two friends went to the Korean White House (known as the Blue House) in Seoul. Lee recalls: “In his broken English, he warned about my horrible Korean, ‘Whatever you do, Sammy Lee, do not try to speak in Korean because if you do we will both land in jail!’

 

During the 1984 Olympic torch run in Los Angeles, Lee ran and handed Sohn the torch in Koreatown, and the run was stopped by hundreds gathering to take photos of the first Korean to win an Olympic gold and the first American of Korean ancestry to win an Olympic gold.

 

“It is one of my finest Olympic memories,” says Lee. “He brought the Olympic flame into the stadium to open the Seoul Games.”

 

And in 1988, the 78-year-old gold medalist brought tears to the eyes of his people as he brought the Olympic flame into the stadium to open the Seoul Games. Sohn Kee-Chung died in 2002 at age 90.