Olympic gold medal winner Greg Louganis – widely considered the greatest diver of all time – reflects on overcoming the HIV-positive stigma and other adversities during his storied career, and gives a preview of a compelling new documentary on his life, Back on Board.
Despite leaving the diving world for decades after being on top of the sport, Greg says everybody still remembers him for the time he hit his head on the springboard during a dive at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul.
“It was such an impactful image that there was some type of visceral response. And generally when you have some sort of visceral response to an image like that, it kind of burns in your memory. So that’s what everybody remembers – 20 plus years after people are still asking, ‘How’s your head?’”
He notes that despite all the publicity surrounding his injury, the public was unaware of a lot of other issues he was facing at the time. “That whole Olympic experience was so emotionally charged. Six months prior to the Olympic Games I was diagnosed with HIV, and knew I was going into a country where I wouldn’t be welcome in, had they known my HIV status at that moment in time.”
When asked whether his decision to publicly come out was prompted by a perceived responsibility to do so, or just for himself, he said he first had to personally be okay with who he was. “It was really an entire evolution. That whole process of coming out – whether it’s your sexual orientation, whether it’s HIV, whatever it is – you have to be accepting of yourself first, and then you can share who you are.”
Watch the full episode to also hear Greg explain why it was important for him to tell his story in the book Breaking the Surface, and to get his thoughts on attending the LGBT Russian Open Games in Moscow.
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