Purdue University diver Steele Johnson and his teammate David Boudia are headed to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Johnson has been diving since he was 10. His parents drove him from their home in Carmel, Indiana to Indianapolis every day (a 45-minute drive each way). It hasn’t been an easy road to the Olympics. When Steele was 12 and practicing a reverse 3½ somersault in tuck position, Steele hit his head on the concrete platform. His “scalp ripped in half” and then he fell 33 feet into the water. He was rescued by his coach at the time, John Wingfield.
Seven years later, Johnson is now talking about the accident and the memory loss that has occurred due to the head injury. He said: “I just kind of hid it [the memory loss] from everyone for the past few years.” (See video below.) Johnson adds: “The cool part of the story is something that almost killed me has become the thing that I’m best at,” he said. Steele Johnson will be featured in the Lifetime docu-series Gold Medal Families which airs Tuesdays at 9pm and 10pm.
