Greg Louganis and Jeryl Prescott attend the Greg Louganis’ Pre-ESPY Awards Wheaties Breakfast for Champions at the Starving Artists Project on July 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
Greg Louganis is “probably the greatest diver in history".
Louganis won his first Olympic medal at the age of 16 at the at the 1976 Montreal Games.
He won the gold medal in the 3m springboard AND 10m platform events at the 1984 Los Angeles Games - the first athlete to attain these duel competitions in 56 years.
Louganis repeated his double win at the 1988 games in Seoul.
(The US boycotted the games in Moscow in 1980. Based on his performance at the later two game, he likely would have achieve the same wins a third time.)
But reaching those goals was not easy, especially in his personal life. Between 1983 and 1989, Louganis was in an abusive relationship with his manager Jim Babbitt. It’s through Babbitt that he contracted HIV (diagnosed in 1988). Louganis final ended the relationship and needed to obtain a restraining order to keep Babbitt away. He also learned that Babbitt absconded with 80% of his earning.
Learning of his HIV diagnosis six month before the 1988 Seoul games, Louganis immediately began a regiment of drugs to keep the disease at bay (every four hours around the clock).
During the preliminary rounds of competition, Louganis struck his head on the springboard, developing a concussion. Despite this setback, he reached the finals an won. But that’s when the panic set in. He had not revealed his HIV status in advance because he feared the backlash that people with HIV/AIDS face. Plus he didn’t know if he put someone else at rush since some blood fell in the pool. He needn’t have worried because, as the CDC confirmed, chlorine kills HIV. And the diseases can’t be contracted by the skin touching the virus, unless an open wound was also present.
Louganis didn’t receive as many endorsement deals you might have expected after the double win (Speedo being the major exception). Some have speculated that homophobia played a part, but Louganis thinks he was simply overshadowed by Mary Lou Renton who became America’s sweetheart for her gymnastics achievement at the same games.
Although Greg lived “an openly gay life”, he firmly announce to the public that he was gay at the 1994 Gay Games. And revealed his HIV status in a 1995 televised interview with Barbara Walters.
Since retiring from competition, Louganis has coached other divers. He was a mentor to the US diving team at the London 2012 Olympics and the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics.
He’s even pursued acting (his degree from college was in theater after all).
More importantly, Louganis became gay rights activist and an advocate HIV awareness advocate. He has worked frequently with the Human Rights Campaign which fights for the civil liberties for LGBT community and people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
Louganis became engagement with his partner Johnny Chaillot, and the couple were married on October, 2013.
