Greg Louganis is currently being featured in ‘Sharing Miracles’, a 30-minute public affairs television programme that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of people who have overcome tremendous odds, both physical and mental, to conquer the world. The programme is broadcast through several television stations across the United States.
The life of Louganis — he is HIV positive — has been nothing short of a miracle. The champion, who won four golds, dominated diving for nearly two decades. He is the only diver to win gold medals in the 3m springboard and 10m platform in successive Olympics — 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul. Louganis’ achievement is unparalleled.
Orphaned at an early age, Louganis was adopted by Peter and Frances Louganis, a Greek-American couple. Under the tutelage of the Olympic diving coach, Ron O’Brien, a friendly man but a hard taskmaster, Louganis honed his skills.
At the Seoul Olympics, critics wrote Louganis off, saying he had lost all his desire and drive to win. At that time, Louganis, who had a charismatic personality, was well into films and advertisements. Louganis, however, pulled off a miracle at the Games. In the preliminary round of 11 dives, he hit his head on the board on his ninth dive while performing a reverse two-and-a-half somersault pike. The accident caused a deep gash that required five stitches. Louganis came back showing no signs of the injury and scored 76.50 points on the same ninth dive. He led in every round of the 3m springboard event.
“But I think my pride was hurt more than anything else,” said Louganis of the freak accident.
A 14-year-old Chinese lad answering to the name Xiong Ni challenged Louganis till the final stage in the 10m platform event in Seoul. Under excruciating pressure, Louganis performed a near-perfect somersault that won him the gold medal. Coach Brien described Louganis’ effort thus: “To hit it like that, under those circumstances certainly proved that he is a champion.”
K. Keerthivasan
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