Kenneth Sitzberger

1964 Olympics After a year at Indiana, as a nineteen-year-old Sitzberger won a gold medal at the October 1964 Olympics in springboard diving, becoming the youngest person to ever place first in the event. He was trailing on the 3 meter board to American teammate Frank Gorman after nine of the ten dives, but Gorman performed poorly on his last dive, while Sitzberger was almost perfect, performing a backward 1 1/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists. Gorman's ninth dive was a 2 1/2 tuck somersault, in which he did quite poorly, and received only 10.8 points, falling in back of Sitzberger. American diver Larry Andreasen took the bronze medal, giving the Americans a full sweep of the event. Sitzberger's gold medal was America's tenth consecutive gold in the event.

While at Indiana, Sitzberger captured first at the AAU national indoor 1-meter and 3-meter springboard championships in 1964 and 1965. He was the NCAA champion in the 1-meter from 1965 through 1967, and in the 3-meter springboard in 1966 and 1967. Graduating in 1967, Sitzberger lettered in Varsity swimming in 1965 through 1967, at Indiana, and was voted a Scholar Athlete of the Big 10 in his Senior year.

Marriage and career

Having first met at the U.S. National Diving competition in 1962, Sitzberger married 1964 Olympic 3 meter Olympic silver medalist Jeanne Collier on August 27, 1966, at St. Gregory's Church in Collier's hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. Jeanne's sister Sarah served as maid of honor, with sisters Mary Beth and Patricia as attendants. Francis D. Sitzberger served as Kenneth's best man. The couple's wedding trip was to Northern California, a state where they would move around 1980, though they initially resided in Bloomington while Sitzberger completed college at Indiana. At the time of their wedding, Sitzberger was a Senior and accounting major at Indiana where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. The couple would have three daughters.

Sitzberger worked primarily part-time or in intervals for around 18 years as a sports commentator for the American Broadcasting Company until his death in 1984 at the age of 38. When not engaged as a broadcaster, he worked as a real estate executive and spent time tending to his real estate investments. He had been involved in the recreational real estate development of Park City, Utah.

Sitzberger died in Coronado, California of a brain hemorrhage likely in his sleep after having been found unconscious by his wife in bed on the morning of January 2, 1984. He was brought to Coronado Hospital, for a death pronouncement and the Coroner later determined there was head trauma and internal bleeding. He had lived in the Cornado area since around 1980, formerly living briefly in the Park City, Utah area working in real estate, and prior in the greater Chicago area in Hinsdale, and River Forest, Illinois where he grew up. He died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. His wife Jeanne said that he had fallen and hit his head on a table during a New Year's Eve party at their home the prior day, and his death was ruled an accident. Police said Sitzberger twice picked fights with another man at the New Year's party, and in the second scuffle he struck his head. Because he had been subpoenaed as a federal witness in a cocaine-trafficking case, police continued to investigate his death, but discovered no evidence of foul play.

Honors Sitzberger was inducted into the Indiana University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996, and is a member of the Fenwick High School Hall of Fame.