Greg Louganis has won four Olympic gold medals, sweeping the men’s springboard and platform diving competitions in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, a first among male athletes. A documentary about his life, Back on Board: Greg Louganis, began airing in August on HBO. Rainbow Rumpus asked him if he had any advice for kids who might want to follow in his footsteps.
How did you become a diver? It must have been hard.
It truly is a work ethic. I mean, if you examine my life from dancing acrobatics when I was a year-and-a-half, going to gymnastics when I was six and seven, and then diving when I was eight, all of those skills sets were setting me up to be successful in that arena of diving.
I was just fortunate and lucky that I found diving. One of my old teammates came up to me [recently], and he said that I inspired him every day because I never missed a dive, even in training. It really is that, work ethic. You don’t achieve greatness on your own, and it’s a long road and a lot of work.
What would you say to a kid who wants to be an Olympian like you?
Becoming an Olympian or any type of success, a musician, artist, anything, it takes a lot of work, number one. But it’s also believing in yourself and trusting in yourself. I’m a firm believer you don’t achieve greatness on your own, and you have support out there. All you have to do is reach out. It’s gonna be there for you.
You’ve faced a lot of challenges in your life and your career. What would you tell a kid who feels defeated by an obstacle?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need help. It’s so hard, because we feel like we have to do it on our own, and you don’t have to do it on your own. You know what? You’re going to find out there are more people out there who feel the same way you do!
You’re dyslexic, which created challenges for you in school. How did you find out you were dyslexic?
I was given dyslexia as a vocabulary word in my college freshman English class. Then I realized, oh my God, I’m not a moron, I’m not all the kids all the things the kids called me when I was growing up!
The teachers did say I was lazy, that I didn’t apply myself, all of those things. [But] once I read the definition of dyslexia, oh my God, I’m dyslexic. And then I did something at lab school in D.C., and it was always a learning disability. What they taught me was it’s a learning difference, and that we learn differently. That really kind of shifted my thinking about having a learning difference and starting to examine the different ways that I learned.
What are you doing now?
I am going to be in Rio [de Janeiro, for the 2016 Summer Olympics], and I’m going to be with Global TV, and so I’m really excited about that. I’m continuing to mentor for USA Diving. We’ve got some wonderful hopefuls to look forward to. We have this young man in North Carolina, Jordan Windle, who has a fascinating story. He was adopted from Cambodia, and he has two dads. He is an incredible talent. I’ve known him since he was eight years old, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he makes the team.
Later this year, Louganis will be appearing in the plays The Kid from Kokomo in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Spring at the Willowbrook Inn in Orlando, Florida.
