Janet Ely (later ''Lagourgue'' and ''Thorburn'', born September 12, 1953) is a retired American female diver. She competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and finished fourth in 1972, both in the 3 m springboard and 10 m platform. In 1975 she won the world title in the platform and placed second at the Pan American Games. Domestically Ely held the AAU platform titles in 1972 and 1975.
Early life
Ely attended
Sandia Preparatory School
Sandia Preparatory School is an independent college preparatory school located in Albuquerque, New Mexico serving students in sixth through twelfth grade. The school is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) an ...
in
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
She left Albuquerque in 10th grade to go and live with her coach
Dick Kimball
Dick Kimball (born c. 1935) is an American former diving champion and diving coach at the University of Michigan. He was the NCAA springboard champion in 1957 and the Professional World Diving champion in 1963. He coached the University of Mich ...
, where she learned to swim and dive at the YMCA Tennis Club. She was introduced to her coach by "a little Japanese lady", who invited Ely to join her at a swimming camp in Florida and after a two-week stay, she was invited by Kimball to train with him for a year.
She graduated from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
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
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
gold-medalist
Milena Duchková
Milena Duchková (25 born April 1952 in Prague) is a Czech diver. She competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where she received a gold medal in Platform Diving.
Ely competed in the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
diving events, having won the 10-meter event during the United States Olympic trials in July, to secure her place on the diving team along with Cindy Potter and
Micki King
Maxine Joyce "Micki" King (born July 26, 1944) is an American former diving (sport), competitive diver and diving coach. She was a gold medal winner at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the Diving at the 1972 Summer Olympics - Women's 3 metre spring ...
. 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 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 at the time, she was not sure if she would want to 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
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
During the
1975 World Aquatics Championships
The 1975 World Aquatics Championships took place in Cali, Colombia between July 19 and July 27, 1975, with 682 participating athletes.
Medal table
Medal summary Diving
;Men
;Women
Swimming
;Men
;Women
Synchronised swimming
Wat ...
, she won a gold medal in the women's 10m platform and later in the
1975 Pan American Games
The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...
, won a silver medal in the women's 10m platform event. 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
Janet Ruth Nutter (born April 2, 1953) is a retired diver from Canada, who was supposed to represent her native country at the 1980 Summer Olympics, but failed to do so after the boycott. A resident of Thornhill, Ontario she twice won a medal at ...
on her victory.
In June 1976, she secured her position on the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
team after "eight spectacular dives", scoring 438.96 points with no single dive being scored less than 8/10 by judges.
Personal life
Ely was married twice. In November 1978, she married John Thorburn in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
. Her father was D. Maxwell Ellett and she has two brothers, of which one, Teddy, is a twin.