Federation of Gay Games

Born Gregory Efthimious Louganis in El Cajon, California ... Greg won an Olympic silver medal in the 10 m. platform diving event in 1976 ... At 24 at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, he became the first man in 56 years to win two Olympic diving gold medals by winning both the platform and springboard events ... He received the 1985 Sullivan Award as the Most Outstanding Amateur Athlete in the U.S. ... In 1988, despite hitting his head on the springboard in the opening rounds, Greg won two more golds at the Seoul Summer Olympics ... He is a six-time World Champion, six-time Pan Am Games Champion, and he won 47 U.S. national titles ... He is acknowledged worldwide as the greatest diver in history ...

Greg came out as gay and HIV-positive in connection with Gay Games IV in 1994 ... His pretaped segment for the 1994 opening ceremony, when he welcomed the crowd with the words "It's great to be out and proud," met with a roaring ovation ... His exhibition diving performances to sold out houses that year were among the highlights of Gay Games IV ... He received the USOC's highest honor in 1994 and dedicated his award to the memory of Gay Games founder Tom Waddell ... He criticized the plan to stage 1996 Olympic volleyball in Cobb County, Georgia, which had recently passed an anti-homosexual ordinance; his comments were critical in re-routing the Olympic torch run out of Cobb County and moving other events elsewhere in Atlanta ... Greg narrated "Take the Flame! Gay Games: Grace, Grit & Glory," filmmaker David Secter's documentary look at the history of the Gay Games and the LGBT sports movement ... He co-wrote his biography, "Breaking the Surface," with Eric Marcus (which spent five weeks at the top of The New York Times Bestseller List) and a canine care book, "For the Life of Your Dog," with Betsy Sikora Siino ...

Greg served as the host of the 100 Champions event in Chicago in April 2006 promoting Gay Games VII ... He presented the 2006 Tom Waddell Awards for outstanding volunteer service on behalf of the Gay Games during the Gay Games VII opening ceremony ... In August 2007 he was the keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance ... Website: www.louganis.com.

Quotable: "As a diver, I want to be remembered as being strong and graceful. As a person I want to be remembered as having made a difference."

"Gay Games," "Federation of Gay Games," and the interlocking circles device are trademarks of the Federation of Gay Games, Inc.
Trademarks are registered in the USA, Canada, Benelux, the UK, and Australia.
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