Born in 1960, Greg Louganis was adopted when he was  9 months old. He grew up in Southern California, where he had a troubled childhood. The dark skin he inherited from his Swedish and Samoan parents made him the target of taunts as did his dyslexia and choice of extracurricular activities — acrobatics, dance and gymnastics. At age 9, he began diving lessons, and at age 11, he scored a perfect 10 at the 1971 National Junior Olympics competition in Colorado Springs. But the diving wasn’t enough, and by age 12, he was already doing speed, selling marijuana at school, and had a suicide attempt. Eventually, Louganis turned  to diving, in which he excelled, and it offered him solace from his frustrations as a youngster.

In 1975, Louganis moved in with former Olympic diving medalist, Dr. Sammy Lee, who became his coach. At age 16, Louganis won a silver medal for diving in the 1976 Olympics. The American boycott of the  1980 Games, held in Moscow, precluded any chance for more Olympic gold, but Louganis made up for it in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He won two gold medals at each Games, becoming the first man in 56 years to win two diving competition gold medals (he won both springboard and platform) and the first to win double gold medals in diving in two consecutive Olympics.

During the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, he hit his head on the board while diving, necessitating stitches; Louganis did not reveal it at the time, but he knew he was HIV positive. He retired from competition in 1992, and in 1994, publicly revealed that he was gay, followed by an announcement in 1995 that he had AIDS. Today, after writing two books, Louganis is continuing his acting career; he was a drama major at the University of Miami and University of California, Irvine, where he graduated. He also has become an acknowledged expert in dog training; his dogs have won national awards for agility. Louganis spends much of his time addressing people on substance abuse issues and dyslexia. He also consults with physicians to sensitize them about the emotional and psychological impact to people taking drugs to treat HIV and AIDS.