40 Facts About Greg Louganis

Gregory Efthimios Louganis is an American Olympic diver who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform.

Greg Louganis is the only man and the second diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games.

Greg Louganis has been called both "the greatest American diver" and "probably the greatest diver in history".

Greg Louganis reconnected with his biological father, Fouvale Lutu, in 1984.

Greg Louganis started taking dance, acrobatics, and gymnastics classes at 18 months, after witnessing his sister's classes and attempting to join in.

Greg Louganis took up trampolining, and at the age of nine began diving lessons after the family got a swimming pool.

Greg Louganis attended Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, Valhalla High School in El Cajon, and Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo.

At 16, Greg 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, Greg Louganis won his first world title in the same event with the help of coach Ron O'Brien of the Mission Viejo Nadadores.

Greg 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.

Greg Louganis was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal years later.

Greg Louganis won two titles at the world championships in 1982, where he became the first diver in a major international meeting to get a perfect score of 10 from all seven judges.

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, with record scores and leads over his opponents, Greg Louganis won gold medals in both the springboard and tower diving events.

Greg Louganis won two more world championship titles in 1986.

Greg Louganis then earned the highest single score of the qualifying round for his next dive and repeated the dive during the finals, earning the gold medal by a margin of 25 points.

Greg Louganis's comeback earned him the title of ABC's Wide World of Sports "Athlete of the Year" for 1988.

Six months before the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Greg Louganis was diagnosed with HIV and started antiretrovirals.

Greg Louganis has stated that, during the ordeal, he was "paralyzed with fear" that he would infect another competitor or the doctor who treated him.

Greg Louganis got few endorsement deals following his 1984 and 1988 Olympic victories, his one major deal being Speedo, a partnership which lasted until 2007.

In 2016, Greg Louganis was pictured on boxes of Wheaties cereal, where prominent American athletes are famously featured, as part of a special "Legends" series that included 1980s Olympians Janet Evans and Edwin Moses.

In November 2010, Greg Louganis began coaching divers of a wide range of ages and abilities in the SoCal Divers Club in Fullerton, California.

Greg Louganis was a mentor to the US diving team at the London 2012 Olympics and the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics.

Greg Louganis had been a theater major in college, and in the late 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in a number of movies, including Touch Me in 1997.

In 1996, Greg Louganis recounted his story in a bestselling autobiography, Breaking the Surface, co-written with Eric Marcus.

In 1998, Greg Louganis released a video diary called Looking to the Light, which picked up where Breaking the Surface left off.

In 1999, Greg Louganis co-wrote the book For the Life of Your Dog: A Complete Guide to Having a Dog From Adoption and Birth Through Sickness and Health with Betty Sicora Siino.

Greg Louganis's dogs have included Dr Schivago; Captain Woof Blitzer; Nipper and son, Dobby, both champion Jack Russell terriers; Gryff, a border collie; and Hedwig, a Hungarian Pumi.

Greg Louganis is a gay rights activist, as well as an HIV awareness advocate.

Greg Louganis is on the board of directors to the USA-based chapter of the charitable foundation of Princess Charlene of Monaco.

In 2023, it was reported that Greg Louganis is auctioning three of his five Olympic medals in an effort to fund the Damien Center, Indiana's oldest and largest AIDS services center.

From 1983 to 1989, Louganis was involved romantically with his manager, R James "Jim" Babbitt.

Greg Louganis accused Babbitt of taking 80 percent of his earnings.

Six months before the 1988 Olympics, Greg Louganis was diagnosed with HIV; he had contracted the virus from Babbitt.

Greg Louganis's doctor placed him on the antiretroviral drug AZT, which he took every four hours round the clock.

When Greg Louganis turned 33, in 1993, he agreed to gather friends and family for a birthday party, but one that he envisioned as a final goodbye, as he was in failing health and thought he would soon die of AIDS.

But, with treatment, he kept going and, in 1994, at the opening ceremony at that year's Gay Games, Greg Louganis came out publicly as gay in a pre-taped announcement, at the encouragement of the event's organizers.

In 1995, around the time of the release of his memoir, Breaking the Surface, Greg Louganis revealed his HIV status in an interview with Barbara Walters, speaking openly, for the first time, about being both gay and HIV-positive.

In June 2013, Greg Louganis announced, in People magazine, his engagement to his partner, paralegal Johnny Chaillot.

Greg Louganis produced a video diary called Looking To the Light, which picked up where Breaking the Surface left off.

Greg Louganis was the subject of the documentary Back on Board which aired on HBO on August 4,2015.