George Sheldon (diver)

George Herbert Sheldon ( born May 17, 1874 † November 25, 1907 in St. Louis) was an American diver, who competed in the 10 -meter platform diving. At the Olympic Games in 1904 in St. Louis, he became the first Olympic champion in the water jump.

Diving was at the games in 1904 for the first time in the Olympic program. It participated in all U.S. and German athletes. In the first competition, the 10 -meter platform diving, also included Brett jumps from lower altitudes to the competition. The competition proved to be controversial. The German Springer showed the heavier, the U.S., the elegant jumps, so a dispute erupted about which performance has higher priority. Sheldon was finally declared the winner of the contest, but after a protest by the German athletes, the ceremony was canceled and postponed the final decision. Only after one week, the results were finally confirmed and Sheldon was officially the first Olympic champion in the water jump.

A year later he won the title at the tower of the AAU Championship in New York, at the fixed assessment criteria for the jumps were applied for the first time.

Sheldon, who worked as an ophthalmologist in St. Louis, died of a heart ailment at the age of 33 years. His performances are still regarded as crucial for the introduction of new assessment guidelines, the judge the whole jump including elegance and immersion phase, and not just acrobatics and difficulty. In 1989 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the water jumping.