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Greg Louganis is easily the most notable diver to ever represent the United States at the Olympics and is probably the only athlete in that field who the average sports fan could name off the top of their head—which may stem from what he was able to achieve after hitting his head on a diving board while competing in Seoul in 1988.
Louganis initially made a name for himself when he headed to Los Angeles for the 1984 Summer Olympics and secured two gold medals on his home turf by topping the field in the 3m Springboard and 10m Platform competitions. He was hoping to do the same when he made the trek to South Korea four years later, and while he ended up achieving that goal, he encountered a bit of a setback along the way.
The California native may be considered the greatest diver in the history of the sport, but even people who earn the right to be called the G.O.A.T. make the occasional mistake. You obviously want to prefer falling victim to those missteps while competing on your sport’s largest stage, but Louganis was unfortunately unable to avoid that fate.
However, the manner in which athletes respond after falling victim to an error has the potential to define them, and the diver cemented his legend by bouncing back in a big way when it mattered most.
Diver Greg Louganis turned a potential tragedy into triumph at the 1988 Summer Olympics
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Louganis was understandably the favorite to take the top spot on the podium in the two events he was slated to compete in, and the poster boy for the United States men’s diving team was dealing with a fair amount of pressure when he arrived in Seoul.
The preliminary round for the 3m springboard featured 35 divers who had 11 attempts to rack up the highest score possible in the hopes of being one of the 12 men who earned the right to compete in the final. The fact that Louganis would be a member of that lucky dozen was essentially a foregone conclusion, but things took a very interesting turn during his ninth dive.
Louganis had attempted to pull off a reverse 2½ pike but misjudged the jump and hit his head on the diving board, which generated a loud smacking sound loud enough to make anyone who watched it in person or at home audibly gasp.
Head injuries are scary enough on their own, but succumbing to one right before you’re about to land in a deep pool of water obviously has the potential to create a terrifying scene.
Louganis was thankfully able to remain conscious (unlike a similar incident that unfolded in the Soviet Union in 1979 and knocked him out for 20 minutes), but he believes he suffered a concussion in the collision that created a cut that needed to be sealed with four stitches.
The laceration also sparked an internal panic, as Louganis (who is gay but had not come out at the time) had been diagnosed with HIV in the leadup to the Olympics but kept the news under wraps because he wouldn’t have been allowed to travel to South Korea (nevermind compete there) if officials knew he’d tested positive.
Thankfully, Louganis was able to bounce back and completed his last two dives en route to recording the third-highest score in the qualifying round. A few days later, he earned his first gold medal of the Olympics with a decisive 26-point win over the silver medalist, and the following week, he eked out a one-point victory in the 10m platform for his second one.
What a beast.