| Greg Louganis | |
| Born | January 29, 1960 El Cajon, California, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Diver |
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for  United States |
|||
| Men's Diving | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Silver | 1976 Montreal | 10m Platform | |
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 3m Springboard | |
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 10m Platform | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 3m Springboard | |
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | 10m Platform | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 1978 Berlin | 10m Platform | |
| Gold | 1982 Guayaquil | 3m Springboard | |
| Gold | 1982 Guayaquil | 10m Platform | |
| Gold | 1986 Madrid | 3m Springboard | |
| Gold | 1986 Madrid | 10m Platform | |
Gregory ("Greg") Louganis (born January 29, 1960 in El Cajon, California) is a Greek American diver, who is best known for winning back-to-back Olympic titles in both the 3m and 10m diving events. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. El Cajon (ɛlkəˈhoʊn Spanish elkaˈxon is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Diving off a deck into the Great South Bay of Long Islandjpg|thumb|A man dives into the Great South Bay of Long Island. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Diving off a deck into the Great South Bay of Long Islandjpg|thumb|A man dives into the Great South Bay of Long Island. Diving was first introduced in the official programme of the Summer Olympic Games at the The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Montreal, Quebec The men's 10 meter platform, also reported as platform diving, was one of four Diving events on the Diving at the 1976 Summer Olympics programme The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, The men's 3 metre springboard, also reported as springboard diving, was one of four Diving events on the Diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, The men's 10 metre platform, also reported as platform diving, was one of four Diving events on the Diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics programme The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event staged in 1988 in The men's 3 metre springboard, also reported as springboard diving, was one of four Diving events on the Diving at the 1988 Summer Olympics programme The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event staged in 1988 in The men's 10 metre platform, also reported as platform diving, was one of four Diving events on the Diving at the 1988 Summer Olympics programme The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatic sports diving swimming open water swimming synchronized swimming The 1978 World Aquatics Championships took place in Berlin, West Germany between August 20 and August 28, 1978 The 1982 World Aquatics Championships took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador between July 29 and August 8, 1982 with The 1982 World Aquatics Championships took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador between July 29 and August 8, 1982 with The 1986 World Aquatics Championships took place in Madrid, Spain between August 13 and August 23, 1986 with The 1986 World Aquatics Championships took place in Madrid, Spain between August 13 and August 23, 1986 with Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. El Cajon (ɛlkəˈhoʊn Spanish elkaˈxon is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. A Greek American (Ελληνοαμερικανοί Ellinoamerikani) is a citizen of the United States, who is of Greek heritage or origin Diving off a deck into the Great South Bay of Long Islandjpg|thumb|A man dives into the Great South Bay of Long Island. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games 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. The AAU James E Sullivan Award, known as the Oscar of sports awards is presented annually by the United States Amateur Athletic Union to the most outstanding amateur Official NameAmateur Athletic Union of the United States Incorporated (AAU
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Diving career
At age 16, he took part in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he placed second in the tower event, behind Italian Klaus Dibiasi. The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Montreal, Quebec Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Klaus Dibiasi (born October 6, 1947) is a former diver from Italy, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native Two years later, with Dibiasi retired, Louganis went on to win 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. The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida, UM, or just The U) is a private non-sectarian University founded in 1925 Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 The University of California Irvine is a public Coeducational Research university situated in Irvine, California.
Louganis is widely regarded as the greatest competitive diver of all time – his diving demonstrated an elegance, grace, fluidity, flamboyance, and consistency that has never been matched. The rise of the Chinese to dominance in the sport is in part attributable to Greg, as the Chinese coaches filmed and studied his performances assiduously, and built their national approach to diving on the mechanics they were able to discern in his technique, and upon their communications with leading coaches such as Hobie Billingsley. Hobie Billingsley is an American Diving Champion and honoree of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Olympic Games
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. The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Moscow in the Soviet The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow Olympics was a part of a package of actions to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Louganis won two world titles in 1982, and 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. The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Los Angeles,
After winning two more world championship titles in 1986, he repeated his 1984 feat in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, although not without difficulties. The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event staged in 1988 in In what is considered one of the greatest feats in sporting history, Louganis suffered an injury, hitting his head on the diving board during the preliminary rounds while performing a reverse 2 1/2 pike; he completed the preliminaries, despite a concussion, then went on to repeat the dive during the finals, with nearly perfect scores, earning him the gold medal. His comeback earned him the title of ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year for 1988. The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. ABC's Wide World of Sports was a long-running Sports Anthology show on American Television that ran as a series from 1961 to 1998
Post-diving and writing career
Louganis posed nude for Playgirl magazine in 1987. Playgirl is also a song by Ladytron, PLAYGIRL is a monthly pornographic women's lifestyle Magazine published in the United States
In 1994, Louganis announced he was gay; he took part in the 1994 Gay Games as diving announcer, and performed an exhibition of several dives to a standing-room only crowd of nearly 3,000 spectators. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. The Gay Games is the world's largest sporting and cultural event organized by and specifically for LGBT athletes artists musicians and others
In 1995, Louganis's autobiography co-written with Eric Marcus, entitled Breaking the Surface, was published. Louganis revealed publicly the domestic abuse and rape he suffered from a live-in lover and that he was HIV-positive. Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or spousal abuse) occurs when a family member partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person Cohabitation is when people live together in an emotionally- and/or physically- Intimate relationship. Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) is a Lentivirus (a member of the Retrovirus family that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome The announcement caused some controversy because of the belief, as expressed by then-United States Olympic Committee executive director Dr. Harvey Schiller,[1] that he should have disclosed his HIV status during the 1988 Olympic games because his diving board injury resulted in light bleeding. Dr Harvey Schiller, formerly President of TBS Sports Southeastern Conference commissioner and CEO of YankeeNets is currently a member of the All American Football Louganis had agonized over whether to disclose his status but was later advised by AIDS expert Dr. Anthony Fauci that the injury posed no danger of infection to fellow competitors. Anthony S Fauci is an immunologist who has made substantial contributions to research in the areas of AIDS and other immunodeficiencies both as a scientist and as [2]
Following the announcement of his HIV status, Louganis was dropped by most of his corporate sponsors, with the exception of the aquatics gear manufacturer Speedo, which continued to sponsor him as of 2007. Speedo is a manufacturer of swimwear and accessories The company was started by Alexander MacRae under the name of MacRae Hosiery Manufacturers in Bondi Beach
A 1997 made-for-television movie, Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story, based on the book, starred Mario López as Louganis. Gregory ("Greg" Efthimios Louganis (born January 29 1960 in El Cajon California) is an American diver who is best known for winning back-to-back Mario López Jr (born October 10, 1973) is an American Actor and Author who has appeared on several television series film
In 1999, Louganis's second book, For the Life of Your Dog (co-authored by Betsy Sikora Siino) was published.
Since retiring from competitive diving, Louganis has done some acting, most notably appearing in an off-Broadway production of the Paul Rudnick play Jeffrey. Off-Broadway plays or musicals are performed in New York City. Paul M Rudnick (born 29 December 1957) is a Playwright, Screenwriter and Novelist. Jeffrey is a 1995 American Gay Romantic comedy movie directed by Christopher Ashley. As a hobby, he competes at the top level of dog agility with his Jack Russell Terriers. Dog agility is a Dog sport in which a handler directs a Dog through an Obstacle course in a [3] He is also the former boyfriend of former E! television personality Steve Kmetko. E! Entertainment Television (or simply E!) is an American Cable television and Direct broadcast satellite network Steven Kmetko (born February 16, 1953) is an American entertainment television host and reporter
Louganis was briefly mentioned in the 2005 hit film The Longest Yard. The Longest Yard can refer to ''The Longest Yard'' (1974 film, starring Burt Reynolds Mean Machine, a 2001 football The character Caretaker mentioned Greg whilst explaining Crewe's, another character chances of winning a game of 1-on-1 Basketball with D. Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m
References
- ^ Sandomir, Richard. "Agonizing Over Disclosure of AIDS", New York Times, 1995-02-06. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Retrieved on 2007-10-28. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine
- ^ Louganis, Greg; Eric Marcus (1995). Breaking the Surface. New York: Random House, 7. ISBN 0679437037.
- ^ "On Course With Greg Louganis" (November 2007). Clean Run 13 (11): 16-17.
External links
- Greg Louganis official web site.
- Greg Louganis biography at U.S. Olympic Committee official web site.
- Greg Louganis to keynote DBSA 2007 National Conference.