"People who were close to me - family and friends - they knew about my sexuality." -- Greg Louganis
Gregory "Greg" Efthimios Louganis (born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver and author. He is best known for winning back-to-back Olympic titles in both the 3m and 10m diving events.
He received the James E. Sullivan Award from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1984 as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.
"I guess you can tease me about being a drama queen, because that did heighten the drama.""I just did not discuss my personal life, my sexuality with the media. That was my policy.""I've learned at the book signings that everyone has obstacles.""In sports, people reach their peak very early. You have to move on. I don't know if I will ever surpass what I did at the Olympics, but I'm still doing the work I always wanted to do.""Mom was the one who taught me unconditional love. With Dad, I'd always felt there was something to live up to - expectations. But in the last year, we had a wonderful relationship.""One of my dogs is in the movie Beethoven's 2nd.""People wait in line to see me, saying there's plenty of living to be done even if you have an HIV diagnosis. People say they are 10- or 15-year survivors and still moving forward.""The Games are just a nice, positive way to build friendships, camaraderie and, of course, self-esteem. Plus, the Games are a great opportunity for people to participate in sports who normally wouldn't.""Well, unless you're Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan, you need the full support of your team.""When you're a kid growing up, and you think you're gay, you know that you're different; you're often teased and it can really destroy your self-esteem. But sports can be great for building self-esteem."
Louganis is of Samoan/Swedish descent. He was raised in California by his adoptive parents, a Greek-American couple. He attended Valhalla High School in El Cajon, California.
At sixteen Louganis took part in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he placed second in the tower event, behind Italian sport legend Klaus Dibiasi. Two years later, with Dibiasi retired, Louganis won his first world title in the same event. In 1978, he accepted a diving scholarship to the University of Miami where he studied theater, but in 1981 transferred to the University of California, Irvine, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.
Louganis was a favorite for two golds in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but an American boycott of the games prevented him from participating. Louganis won two world diving titles in 1982. In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, with record scores and leads over his opponents, Louganis won gold medals in both the springboard and tower diving events.
After winning two more world championship titles in 1986, he repeated his 1984 feat in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, although not without difficulties: he suffered a concussion after hitting his head on the springboard during the preliminary rounds while performing a reverse 2½ pike. He completed the preliminaries despite his injury, and went on to repeat the dive during the finals, earning the gold medal. His comeback earned him the title of ABC's Wide World of Sports "Athlete of the Year" for 1988.
Greg Louganis is openly gay and tested positive for HIV in 1988. He recounted his story in a best-selling book Breaking the Surface co-written with Eric Marcus. The book spent five weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. His story was also documented in the 1996 Showtime movie The Greg Louganis Story with Mario Lopez playing the lead and Louganis narrating.
He also produced a video diary called Looking To the Light, which picked up where Breaking the Surface left off. In the years since his diagnosis was made public, Louganis has been an outspoken HIV awareness advocate.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, he took on a number of roles in movies, including Touch Me in 1997 and David Oliveras' debut movie Watercolors in role of Coach Brown, a swimming instructor in a high school.
In September 2000, he appeared on Hollywood Squares as a member of famous Olympic gold medalists "Dream Team", competing in a special week of the nationally-syndicated game show series, broadcast as a tribute to the 2000 Summer Games. The episodes marked the first time that all these champions came together for this kind of television competition.
Louganis currently competes actively in dog agility competitions with his dogs, Dr. Schivago and Captain Woof Blitzer, and Dobby. Most of his current competitors are named for characters in the Harry Potter series. He published his book For the Life of Your Dog co-written with Betty Sicora Siino.
