Michael Hixon (born July 16, 1994) is an American diver. He is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won the silver medal with Sam Dorman in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

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and the silver medal with Andrew Capobianco at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

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in the same event.

Early life and education

Hixon was born on July 16, 1994, in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

, to Mandy and David Hixon. He has an older brother, Matthew. Hixon's parents have both coached in American

collegiate sports College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non-professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries. College sports trace ...

. His father was the head coach for the men's basketball team at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

. His mother, an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n diver at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, helped foster his interest in diving after he joined her at a diving practice while she was a diving coach at Amherst College. Soon after, she became his personal coach, and he began entering competitions two years later. Growing up, Hixon was also involved in basketball, football, and lacrosse, but after foregoing them in high school, he committed to diving full-time. He graduated from Amherst Regional High School in 2013. In 2013, he enrolled at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

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, but in July 2014, he was granted a release by the university, after which he transferred to

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in Bloomington, citing desire for a program that would be a better fit. Hixon enrolled at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ross School of Business The University of Michigan Ross School of Business (branded as Michigan Ross) is the business school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school was originally established ...

in 2020 for his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA). To train for the

, he agreed to become a volunteer assistant coach for the Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving team in order to use the pool facilities during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Diving career

2007–2010: Junior championships

Hixon began diving at the national level when he was 12 and won the 1-meter competition at the national championships three years running. Hixon is a six-time junior U.S. champion, and won two bronze medals, in the 1 meter and 3 meter events, at the 2009 Junior Pan-American Diving Championships in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. He subsequently paired with Kristian Ipsen to win a silver at the 2010

FINA World Junior Diving Championships The World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships is a diving championship event organized by FINA for boys and girls. History First held in 1977. Results: Age groups (A and B): # Group A for divers from 16 to 18 years old. # Group B for divers from ...

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, in the 3 meter synchronized springboard event, but only managed a tenth-place finish in the 3 meter solo event.

2010 Summer Youth Olympics

Hixon won in the 3 meter springboard event at a national selection camp and qualified for Youth Olympic trials in

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, where he won a bronze medal and thus secured a spot to represent the United States at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in the 3 meter springboard event. The event in the first-ever Youth Olympics in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

consisted of a 15-man preliminary round and an eight-man final round. After the ten-dive preliminary round, Hixon carried over enough points into the final to begin the final round in third. Although he was sixth after his first dive in the final and fourth heading into his final dive, a poor dive by

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Giovanni Tocci Giovanni Tocci (born 31 August 1994) is an Italian Diving (sport), diver. He competed in the Diving at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's synchronized 3 metre springboard, men's synchronized 3 metre springboard at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where h ...

allowed Hixon to claim bronze on his final dive, finishing with a score of 554.65 points behind

Qiu Bo Qiu Bo (; born 31 January 1993) is a Chinese diver. He won the silver medal in the 10 metre platform event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is a four-time world champion at the World Aquatics Championships, winning the gold medal three times in ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and Oleksandr Bondar of

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2011

At the 2011 US National Championships, Hixon captured the senior men 1-meter springboard title at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Spieker Aquatics Center The Spieker Aquatics Center is a 2,500-capacity stadium in Los Angeles, California used by UCLA water polo, Swimming (sport), swimming, and Diving (sport), diving teams. The $14-million center was built in 2009 and is named for Tod and Catherin ...

in Los Angeles.

2013

Hixon won silver in the 3-meter synchro with Darian Schmidt at the 2013 AT&T National Diving Championships. Hixon qualified for his first senior international competition, the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, with Troy Dumais, and finished fifth in the men's 3-meter synchronized event.

2014

Hixon won the NCAA Division I men's swimming and diving championships titles on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events in 2014.

2015

In the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia hosted this event for the first time. The number of participating national teams (190), ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Hixon won bronze in the men's 1-meter dive.

2016

Hixon won the 1-meter springboard at the 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championship.

Summer Olympics

Hixon qualified for and represented the United States in both the 3-meter synchronized and men's individual 3-meter springboard events at the

in Rio. He teamed up with Sam Dorman on the 3-metre synchro only after team changes in March 2016, but won the U.S. trials in their first competition together in June 2016. In the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event, Hixon along with his diving partner Sam Dorman placed second and won the silver medal with a score of 450.21, behind Jack Laugher and Chris Mears of

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(454.32) and ahead of the Chinese pair Qin Kai and Cao Yuan (443.70). In the men's individual 3-meter springboard event, he finished 10th, while his former 3-meter synchro partner Kristian Ipsen placed fifth in the same event.

2019

Hixon and new partner Andrew Capobianco attended the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

and placed eighth after the final round of the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event, totaling 388.08.

2021

Hixon understood that his score at the 2019 World Championships had not been high enough for him and Capobianco to automatically qualify for the Olympics, and he continued training in 2020 in preparation for trials, in spite of the narrowing chances that he would be able to attend the Olympics amid the COVID-19 pandemic when crucial meets had become postponed or cancelled. However, Hixon and Capobianco were unexpectedly chosen to represent the United States at the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup after fellow American pair David Boudia and Steele Johnson abruptly pulled out eight days prior to the start of the competition. For the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event, Hixon and Capobianco scored a total of 414.18, which landed them in fourth place and ensured their spot at the Olympics.

Summer Olympics

In June 2021, Hixon and Capobianco placed first in the United States Olympics diving trials for the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event with a score of 1289.37. In the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event, Hixon and Capobianco placed second and won the silver medal with a final score of 444.36, behind Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi of

(467.82), and ahead of Patrick Hausding and Lars Rüdiger of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(404.73). They stood in fifth place after performing their first two dives, and then placed second behind leaders Wang and Xie after the next two dives. Their fifth of the sixth dives were the best of the round, and their overall score of the six dives ultimately placed them second.

Personal life

As of July 2021, Hixon has been in a relationship with Canadian swimmer Kennedy Goss.

References

External links

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Michael Hixon
at

USA Diving USA Diving, Inc. is the national Sport governing body, governing body of diving (sport), diving in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and is a member of United States Aquatic Sports, United States Aquatic Sports ...

* * *
Michael Hixon
at

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hixon, Michael Living people 1994 births American male divers Divers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Olympic silver medalists for the United States in diving Sportspeople from Amherst, Massachusetts Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Texas Longhorns men's divers Indiana Hoosiers men's divers Divers at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in diving Olympic divers for the United States Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in diving Amherst Regional High School (Massachusetts) alumni 21st-century American sportsmen