Janet Ely

Career In April 1971, Ely competed in the Hall of Fame International Diving Championships, where she surprised spectators in her performance by outscoring Czechoslovakia's 1968 Summer Olympics gold-medalist Milena Duchková in the 10-meter platform event, with a score of 366.75 to 356.80.

1972 Olympics

Ely competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics diving events, Upon initially arriving, Ely noted that she "had a really good feeling" and made friends with others on the U.S diving team, with an open atmosphere in the period before the competition began. Less than an hour before she was scheduled to start her dives, her team coach was advised that unless Ely submitted to an immediate femininity test, she would be disqualified. Ely recalled the experience as being "really frightening" as "they were all talking German and laughing". Despite initially feeling optimistic, Ely finished 4th in both the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform diving events. Although missing out on a medal, she "really enjoyed it over-all" but was critical about the politics of the event, suggesting that competition between countries appeared to be more important than between athletes. The experience left her disillusioned and unsure if she would compete at the next Olympics in 1976. During the event, Ely was struggling with back problems which she had corrected shortly afterwards in Puerto Rico. Ely's silver-medal finish was considered an upset, as she was expected to win gold on the basis of being the 10-meter platform world champion, but ultimately congratulated Canada's Janet Nutter on her victory.

1976 Olympics In June 1976, she secured her position on the 1976 Summer Olympics team after "eight spectacular dives", in the trials scoring 438.96 points with no single dive being scored less than 8/10 by judges. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, she finished 9th competing in the 10m platform event, just missing the final round.

Personal life Ely was married twice. In November 1978, she married John Thorburn in Dallas, Texas. Her father was D. Maxwell Ellett