Louganis was born in El Cajon, California, and is of Samoan and Swedish descent.
He has been called both 'the greatest American diver' and 'probably the greatest diver in history'. He is the only man and the second diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games. Gregory Efthimios Louganis ( / l uː ˈ ɡ eɪ n ɪ s/ born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 19 Summer Olympics, on both the springboard and platform.
