Maxine Joyce "Micki" King (born July 26, 1944) is an American former competitive diver and diving coach.
She was the dominant figure in women's diving in the United States from 1965 to 1972, winning 10 national championships, including both springboard and platform events.
In 1972, she made a comeback at the Munich Olympics, winning the gold medal in the three meter springboard event.
King was a career officer in the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1992, retiring with the rank of colonel.
[4] In the years before Title IX, women were not permitted to compete in Michigan athletics, but Kimball and King circumvented the system.
She led the Ann Arbor Swim Club to two AAU national championships (1961–1963) and was twice named an All-American goalie.
A 1967 Associated Press article described her as "shapely" and "a vivacious, blue-eyed blond, who does justice to a bathing suit".
She is remembered for her courageous performance in the 1968 Summer Olympics in which she was in first place when she broke her left forearm on her ninth dive.
King noted that, while she was caught up in the pageantry and adventure of the Olympics in 1968, she was 28 years old at the Munich games; she viewed it as her "last hurrah," and "it was all business.
While preparing for the 1972 Olympics, King trained at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
While serving in the Air Force, King was a member of the committee that led the way for women to be admitted to the US military academies.
At the time, King noted, "Never once in the two years of committee work did I ever dream that my own daughter would be a beneficiary.
In 1992, King became an assistant athletic director and senior women's administrator at the University of Kentucky where she remained for 14 years.
[8] From 1990 to 1994, King was the president of US Diving, the governing body for US divers, and attended the 1992 Summer Olympics in that capacity.
"[16] In 2001, she was part of an independent review commission that concluded that US Track & Field did not intentionally cover up positive drug tests but did not follow procedures in reporting violators.
[17][18] In April 2005, King was elected to serve a four-year term as vice president of the US Olympians Association.
Long a proponent of funding for women's sports, King noted in 1999, "The test of Title IX is to go into high schools and ask the girls about the history of their teams.