McCormick, Kelly (1960—)

American diver . Name variations: Kelly McCormick Robertson. Born on February 13, 1960, in Anaheim, California; daughter and one of two children of Glenn McCormick (a diving coach) and Patricia (Keller) McCormick (b. 1930); married.

Won silver medal in the springboard event, Olympic Games, Los Angeles, California (1984); won bronze medal in the springboard event, Olympic Games, Seoul, South Korea (1988).

Kelly McCormick was born in Anaheim, California, in 1960, the daughter of diving coach Glenn McCormick and Olympic gold-medal diver Patricia McCormick . "My mother showed me her medal when I was a little girl. I made a bet with her that someday I'd make an Olympic team and win," Kelly McCormick told Sports Illustrated in 1983, recalling that she started diving as a youngster because she wanted her own prizes. In a career that nearly paralleled her mother's, Kelly did win her own medals, a silver and a bronze, in consecutive Olympic Games (1984 and 1988). It was not quite the "double-double" win of the elder McCormick (two gold medals in each of two consecutive Games), but impressive nonetheless, particularly given the changes in the competition since the 1950s.

Kelly began training as a gymnast, but gave it up after eight years because she hated being cooped up inside. As a diver, she possessed the same grace and strength as her mother, although she was frequently criticized as inconsistent. In the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, facing intense scrutiny from the media, Kelly finished three points shy of a gold medal in the springboard event, winning the silver instead. Four years later, she took home a bronze medal in the same event. In addition to her Olympic wins, she won nine national titles, two Pan American gold medals, and a World Cup bronze medal. At the end of her career, McCormick admitted that comparisons to her mother had been hard on her, and she was glad it was over. After retiring from competition, she married and took up coaching in Washington state.