Which Greg Louganis interview should you hear first?
The right starting point depends on what you want from him. Each pick below links to the full write-up further down this page.
- The 1995 disclosure: Terry Gross on Fresh Air
- Life after the Olympics: Arun Rath on NPR
- Peak performance and flow: Anna Sale on Death, Sex & Money
- Mental health: Gabe Howard on Inside Mental Health
Louganis hosts a show of his own too. The Greg Louganis Is Alive podcast is the place to hear him ask the questions.
Greg Louganis HIV interview: the 1995 disclosure
Louganis revealed that he was HIV positive in 1995. Newspaper coverage began on February 23 of that year. Sports Illustrated later traced the disclosure to a televised interview with Barbara Walters. Coverage at the time often said AIDS. He had been diagnosed with HIV in 1988, months before the Seoul Olympics.
Fresh Air with Terry Gross, March 2, 1995
Gross spoke to him about his memoir Breaking the Surface, his 1994 announcement that he is gay and his decision to share his HIV status after the 1988 Games. It is the closest thing to a first-hand record from the weeks around the disclosure.
Listen to the Fresh Air segment. The archive page carries a summary only, so the audio is the record.
The same year's Tampa Bay Times report from February 23, 1995 shows how the news first reached readers. For the full timeline, the diagnosis section of the biography sets it out step by step.
NPR interviews
"Who Am I Without My Sport?" with Arun Rath, August 2, 2015
Rath talked to Louganis for All Things Considered about what happens when an athlete stops competing. Louganis describes losing a part of yourself at retirement and explains why he stresses aftercare for the divers he mentors.
He also walks through the 1988 head injury, including the stitches and his coach's comparison to a hockey player's cuts. He also talks about how attitudes to gay rights changed. The page mentions Back On Board, an HBO documentary about him.
Read or listen on NPR. For the dive itself, the Seoul 1988 section of the Olympics page has the scores.
The Wheaties box, with Ari Shapiro
Shapiro spoke to Louganis when he finally received his own Wheaties box, a recognition he links to being overlooked for being gay. The conversation also covers HIV prevention for younger people and his hope that a diagnosis is no longer a death sentence.
Read the NPR transcript. It carries a 2016 copyright notice but no air date, so treat the year as approximate.
Mental health and recovery interviews
These two podcasts are the most open conversations on this page. Both include frank discussion of suicide attempts and substance use. If that is hard to hear, skip them. If you are struggling yourself, US readers can call or text 988 at any time.
Inside Mental Health with Gabe Howard, June 30, 2022
Louganis covers his struggles after retiring, early bullying and the coping methods he built around it. He talks about the stigma that followed his 1995 disclosure and how exercise and a sense of purpose keep him well. He also explains how portrayals of him in pop culture, Family Guy among them, land with him.
Addiction Talk with Joy Sutton, August 22, 2022
The episode, titled "Diving Into Sobriety," is the longest account of his recovery. Louganis goes back to being adopted as an infant and his early performing arts training. He talks about stuttering and undiagnosed dyslexia. He then follows the thread through depression, a DUI, Alcoholics Anonymous and what forgiveness and self-acceptance meant for staying sober.
Listen on Buzzsprout. His early years are also covered in the early life section of the biography.
Performance and life after diving
Death, Sex & Money with Anna Sale, July 30, 2024
The episode is titled "Olympic Legend Greg Louganis on Outliving and Outperforming Expectations." Louganis calls himself a performer more than a competitor. He explains how he trained and competed in 1988 after his diagnosis and the start of AZT, an early HIV drug.
He separates peak performance from perfection: in his words, peak is flow.
Flow is not flawless.
Greg Louganis on Death, Sex & Money, July 2024
Read Anna Sale's page for the episode
Thirty Minute Mentors with Adam Mendler, Episode 260
Mendler asks about greatness, motivation, performing under pressure and recovering from setbacks. It is the most practical listen here for anyone interested in how an Olympic champion handles pressure. The show page lists no air date.
Listen on Thirty Minute Mentors
Orlando Duque's podcast on the post-Olympic blues
Duque is a cliff diver, so he asks about the sport from the inside. Louganis discusses finding diving, winning a medal at 16 in 1976 and the low that followed his retirement in 1988. He also covers his work as sports information director for Red Bull Cliff Diving and learning to build a life as a single person.
Read the Swimming World summary and find the episode. The article gives no date.
Marc Summers Unwraps
A long-form conversation at 1 hour 11 minutes. Summers goes through the Olympic career, the HIV diagnosis, Breaking the Surface and what resilience means to Louganis. The listing gives no date.
Advocacy and causes
Fostering Change with Rob Scheer, Episode 149, November 1, 2022
Season 4 opened with Louganis. The page lists the causes he cares about: HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ+ issues, adoption and foster care, mental health and addiction, human rights, animal welfare and climate change. Adoption carries extra weight for him because he was adopted as a baby.
LGBTQ&A with Jeffrey Masters
Part of the LGBTQ+ Elders Project from The Advocate and GLAAD. Louganis talks about the Seoul head injury, disclosing his HIV status in 1995 and life since diving. He describes diving during the 1988 Games as a refuge from the stress of his diagnosis.
Listen on Global Player. The page lists no date.
Greg Louganis video and YouTube
The strongest filmed record of his career is Back On Board, the HBO documentary NPR mentions in its 2015 interview. Many of the podcasts above also post video versions, so check each show's own YouTube channel.
Dive footage is easiest to follow once you know what to look for. The Los Angeles 1984 section lists the scores to watch for.
Coverage since the move to Panama
These two pieces are news reports rather than interviews. They quote Louganis directly on why he left the United States.
- Metro Weekly, September 5, 2025: he sold his California home and auctioned three Olympic medals. He said "I needed the money." It contrasts that with his 2023 plan to give auction proceeds to the Damien Center.
- Yahoo Entertainment: a later update after a holiday visit to Hawaii, in which he says he now spends most of his time in Panama.
His life now, in Panama has a short summary. The figures behind the move are on the net worth page.
