Greg Louganis is an American Olympic diver and public personality with widespread fame from the late 80s to the early 90s. he won his performances at the Olympic and world championships. He won gold medals at the Olympics in 1984 and 1988 and won six World Championship titles. He has an estimated net worth of $2 million from his career earnings, royalties from films and books, endorsements, and advertisements.
What Do We Know About Greg Louganis’s Career Life?
Greg Louganis is a professional competitive diver and a US celebrity for about four decades. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 1976, 1984, and 1988 winning two gold medals in diving and two platform diving.
During the 1988 Olympics, he hit his head on the springboard during the preliminary rounds resulting in a concussion, and had to get stitches. He has two books and an autobiography; Breaking the Surface and Fir the Life of Your Dog a Complete Guide to Having a Dog from Adoption and Birth Through Sickness and Health. He has been featured in several films like The Mighty Ducks, It’s My Party, Watercolors, and Portlandia. TV shows like Splash, Celebrity Splash, Holey Moley, and Hollywood Squares have also hosted him.
Greg’s biggest achievements include winning five-time world champion, four-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time Summer Universiade champion, and six-time Pan African Games champion. He is the only male diver to ever win gold medals in the springboard and platform events in consecutive Olympic Games.
Greg will be selling one silver and two gold medals worth around $2.4 million at the Bonhams Auctions in Los Angeles. One of the medals was won when he was 16 years old at his first Olympic Games and gave away his two other gold medals. He put his 3,385-square-foot Malibu home on the rental market for $15,000 per month and sold it for $1.8 million in 2014.
Greg Louganis’s Personal Life
Gregory Efthimios Louganis was born on January 29 1960 in El Cajon, California. His parents were teenagers who left him to a foster family and grew up doing acrobatics, gymnastics, and diving. He went to Santa Ana High School, Valhalla, and Mission Viejo High School. He graduated from the University of Miami, and the University of California, Irvine where he majored in minor dance and theatre. He excelled in diving while in the university till 1982 competing at the NCAA level and winning three NCAA titles and a record in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events.
Greg received so much support from the public after coming out as gay in 1994 and HIV positive in 1995. He has continued supporting the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organizations. He resides in his mansion in Los Angeles, Nevada. He was in a relationship with his manager R James Babbitt from 1983 to 1989 but separated due to Babbitt being abusive, keeping 80% of his earnings and spreading HIV to him. He took a restraining order against him and James died the following year from AIDS. He is divorced from his long-term partner, Johnny Chaillot, after eight years of marriage.