Olympic diver Greg Louganis, who struggled with dyslexia as a child, says his greatest accomplishment is his openness about HIV status

From part of a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune:

For years, returning to San Diego County had been an ambivalent experience for Louganis, triggering memories of a troubled childhood. He was born to Samoan and Swedish parents; both were 15 and offered him for adoption before his first birthday. He was smoking cigarettes at 9, smoking marijuana at 12, abusing alcohol in his early teens.

“I was called sissy-boy and faggot,” Louganis said. “My skin was darker than most people, so I was called the N-word. I didn't know about dyslexia until I was a freshman in college. I knew I had trouble reading, but I didn't know what that problem was, so when everyone was calling me stupid, moron, retard and all that, I thought they were right. I thought that was the reason I couldn't read.”

He achieved some measure of closure a year ago, when he attended his 30-year reunion at Valhalla. People kept coming up to him and telling him how much they respected him, how proud they were.

“One of the guys on the football team said, 'The first time I saw you dive, I told my friends that you were going to be on the Olympic team,' ” Louganis said. “Wow, I had never heard those things from them before.”

Ask Louganis what he considers his greatest accomplishment, and he will unequivocably tell you it is not the silver medal in 1976 at age 16, or becoming the first man in 56 years to achieve the golden double in the springboard and platform events in 1984, or doing it again in 1988 despite famously whacking his head on the board and needing stitches to close the bloody gash.

It is his 1995 autobiography, “Breaking the Surface,” that openly discusses his homosexuality and living with AIDS.

“When I was on book tour,” Louganis said, “people were coming to me at my book signings saying: 'You saved my life. You helped me come out about my HIV status to my parents. You helped me come out to my friends about my sexuality. You helped me get out of an abusive relationship, because if you can do it, I can do it.'

“But I also know, had I not won the gold medals, who the hell is Greg Louganis? It gave me a platform to be heard from. They're not going to listen to Joe Schmo.”
Louganis continues to be an active and visible exponent for AIDS awareness. He takes a combination of drugs daily and hasn't had a major medical issue since a staph infection attacked his left leg in 2006.

And the letters and e-mails continue to arrive.

“Dozens of them,” said Daniel McSwiney, Louganis' live-in partner who met him online. “It's amazing how many of them share their stories. People open up, just because he did. . . . He's not one of those chip-on-the-shoulder guys because he was a great athlete. You would think maybe being a celebrity, he would have a big head, and he has none of that.

“He's a down-to-earth guy, very approachable.”