Are most olympic divers gay

He is the only man and the second diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games. Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (/ luːˈɡeɪnɪs /; [1] born January 29, ) is an American Olympic diver who won gold medals at the 19Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform.

I said, 'Yeah, I take my meds in the morning, evening, and go about the business of living and that's just a part of my life,' so I talked really casually about that. The most unexpected -- the thing that really struck me -- was when I was at the Olympics in London and I had an interview with Piers Morgan and he asked me about my HIV and I was just very casual.

Also, people in USA Diving -- they knew about my sexual identity, because the diving team is a really small team and we're travelling internationally. There was word back to me that because of my sexual identity [being] questioned, that was why I didn't get a lot of sponsorships and it definitely affected me professionally.

It's not hard to understand why. I came out at the Gay Games inwelcoming the athletes and saying, 'It's great to be out and proud. Without a doubt, diving is one of the favorite sports for gay men to watch during the Olympics. Because I knew that ina lot was coming out in the book, because I was coming out with my HIV Status, as well as an abusive relationship, depression, and my learning difference.

That was [when I was] pretty young -- probably pre-teens. I needed to do what I needed to do not only for myself, but also for these other individuals behind me to benefit. I think I knew pretty early on about my sexual identity and then I fought against it because I was being called 'sissy boy' and all this other stuff.

Greg Louganis Diver On : He was on the American diving team in the , 19Olympics, winning five medals, including four gold

I'm just so happy that the times have changed and that they do have these opportunities. During my career, it was challenging, and so too after I retired from my sport. Then, a few days later -- or it may even have been the next day -- [Australia Olympian] Ji Wallace came forward about his sexual identity and HIV status, saying that I was his inspiration.

That's what surprises me. But when Tom Daley and Greg Louganis – two Olympic diving champions from different eras, connected by both their sport and their identities as gay men – stepped onto the same platform inthat’s exactly what happened.

I think a lot of the powers that be in my federation were happy to see me move on and hopefully get a new person, a new face, in the limelight. When you're really young, you don't really know about sex or sexuality or anything like that, I just felt different.

Now, there's a whole diversity movement within the sport to being able to talk openly about sexual identity or any bullying or anything that is happening, so there's much more awareness and a lot more sensitivity. Just a few years ago, athletes were getting endorsement because of their sexual identity and because of diversity and that whole mentality, but I was old news, so I got passed over, but I think it's wonderful.

I'm sure it did interfere with endorsements. The reason why I came out at that time was that I knew that I was coming out with my book, 'Breaking the Surface,' inso I knew that I had to start getting comfortable with talking about my sexual identity with interviews.

He came out publicly as gay at the Gay Games inbut was out to those around him from an early age. I just knew that I was different. I was out to my friends and family, but not to members of the media. It really has evolved. And luckily, we have a video of that historic event.

That was a stepping stone into a bigger picture of being able to talk about who I was as a whole person. It's kind of an interesting journey as far as my coming out [goes] because I was out in my early 20s. That was really challenging as far as self-acceptance [went], because we all just want to fit in.