Greg Louganis, one of the greatest divers of all-time if not the greatest, appeared on Orlando Duque’s podcast to talk about dealing with the post-Olympic blues. Louganis won four Olympic gold medals in his career, winning the 10m and 3m events in the 1984 and 1988 Games.
Listen to the podcast here on Spotify
Louganis went over his early career (2:00) and how he ended up discovering diving. He is currently involved with cliff diving as the sports information director for Red Bull Cliff Diving and explained how he got involved in that growing sport and what he loves about that (14:00).
Greg Louganis reminisced on winning an Olympic medal at age 16 in 1976 and having to wait eight years to experience that thrill again in 1984 when he won two golds (15:00). He went on to defend both of his gold in 1988 (17:00) despite announcing his retirement after the Los Angeles Olympics.
After he retired in 1988, Louganis experienced the post-Olympic blues (20:00) and what he learned during that time that he now passes on to today’s divers in his role as a mentor to members of the national team. He talked about what being an Olympic champion taught him about himself (25:30) and what he learned afterwards how to integrate his life into himself as a single person.
Greg Louganis was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1993.