Greg Louganis Relives His Journey with 'Back on Board'

Greg Louganis came to international fame in 1984 winning two gold medals in diving, sweeping the springboard and platform diving competitions. Four years later he smashed his head during the preliminaries, but despite suffering a concussion, he repeated his earlier achievement. For this he earned the title of ABC's Wide World of Sports "Athlete of the Year" for 1988.

In the ensuing years, he was plagued with rumors of being gay, which led to a reluctance of some corporations to sponsor him. He confirmed those rumors by coming out on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 1985; then the following year he announced he was HIV+. What endorsements he had dried up, save for the swimsuit manufacturer Speedo.

Now 26 years removed from his diving career, Louganis looks back in the HBO documentary Back on Board: Greg Louganis, which is currently airing on the cable network.

Never expected to live this long

Last week at a panel for the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles, Louganis said that he never expected to live this long. He was diagnosed with HIV at a time where little was still understood, and those who contracted the virus were expected to die.

"I was diagnosed with HIV six months prior to the Olympic games in 1988," Louganis shared. "So honestly, I knew those were my last competitive dives because we still viewed HIV/AIDS as a death sentence, and I never thought I'd see 30. And then 30 goes by. And then 40 goes by. I'm 55. So then I'm like going, 'Oh, shit, I got to get a job. What am I going to do?' I don't plan too far ahead because my husband is always encouraging me to do what's in front of me to the best of my ability. That's how I make it through my day, and there's lots of things happening."

That husband Louganis speaks of so lovingly is Johnny Chailliot, a paralegal at Loeb & Loeb. Louganis even shared their wedding story with the TCA.

"We got married October 12, 2013," Louganis said. "It was before the Prop 8 stuff was done away with. So we had an alternative plan. We had the wedding date set. So if things didn't happen right, then we're going to get married in Seattle. I have a friend up in Seattle, an old teammate in Seattle, and we'd come back and have a celebration. But things worked out the way that it did. It's so funny because I never thought it possible, but when we were married and we're stating our vows, it added an incredible depth to our relationship. Even to this day, I mean every day forward, I fall in love with him more and more each day."

An interesting journey

One topic in the documentary, directed by Cheryl Furjanic, addresses how Louganis lost out on sponsorship deals because of rumors he was gay. Looking back, endorsements are not as sore a spot as, say, missing the 1980 games because of the U.S. boycott.

"Well, I came into the sport, my first Olympics was 1976," Louganis said. "1972 started the commercialization of the Olympic games with Mark Spitz, and then '76, Bruce Jenner. And then we missed 1980. There were so many incredible stories at the '84 Olympic games, (such as that of) Edwin Moses, but the advertisers just rallied around Mary Lou Retton. I really wasn't in it for the money so to speak, but it was for the love of the sport and that pride of accomplishing an achievement. So it's been an interesting journey."

Now that he is back in the spotlight in an era when LGBT trailblazers are championed, one would think Louganis could land a new endorsement. Yet his focus remains the sport, this time, though, from the other side.

"We're still working on [endorsements]," he said. "We're still out there. I am going to be in Rio (where the Games will be held next summer). I'm going to be with Global TV. I'm really excited about that. And I'm continuing to mentor for USA Diving. We've got some wonderful hopefuls to look forward to. We especially have this young man at Duke in North Carolina, Jordan Windle, who has a fascinating story. He was adopted from Cambodia. He has two dads and he is an incredible talent. I've known him since he was eight years old, and now he's going to be 17 next year. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he makes the team, and also David Boudia is still continuing to dive too."

Reconnecting

Growing up in Santa Ana, El Cajon and Mission Viejo, CA, sports gave Louganis an outlet, but it wasn't just diving. Louganis recalled how the relationship he built with young female gymnasts helped save his life.

"I'm very grateful that I grew up when I did and where I did," Louganis said. "When I was in high school, even when I came in as a freshman in high school, even before the Olympic games, we had a swimming coach coaching the diving team. Well, the swimming coach didn't know a lot about diving, so I ended up coaching the dive team, men's and women's. Then I had a gymnastics background, and so the girls on the gymnastics team, they recruited me because I knew how to hand spot. So I had that and those gals kept me alive. They actually did. I did try to kill myself. I tried to commit suicide. But those girls gave me a purpose and we had a lot of successes and we also had a lot of fun along the way."

"Back on Board" chronicles Louganis's athletic successes, as well as his post Olympics life. Even in scenes that didn't make the final cut, Louganis found some touching moments that he wasn't aware of before the film forced him to discover them.

"They were filming as I was going through my dad's possessions that I hadn't gone through, and I saw that he kept every score of my Olympics and other competitions," Louganis said. "I was just blown away because I didn't always have a great relationship with my dad. We had some difficult times but I'm grateful that we were able to come full circle. I took care of him the last six weeks of his life. He died of cancer in 1991, and we really made peace with each other. I realize he did the best he could at that moment in time with the tools that he had, and he loved me and I loved him."

Crossing paths with Caitlyn

In his career, Louganis crossed path with another athlete who is currently championing LGBT causes. Caitlyn Jenner, then known as Bruce Jenner, was at the '76 Olympics with Louganis, where they marched in the opening ceremonies. They met again at a 2008 Medco Tour of Champions.

"They would always put me with Bruce Jenner and Mark Spitz," Louganis said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, why do I have to be with these guys?' because I could never get a word in edgewise. Now, through the years, our paths have crossed. Our paths haven't crossed since she's transitioned, and I'm really looking forward to it. We all have our own journeys, and that's what is so apparent in 'Back On Board.' Whether you are gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, even straight, we all have our own journeys."

Back on Board: Greg Louganis is currently on HBO.