Louganis to revisit his first Olympic city for a day of celebration
When the rings are raised at 500 René-Lévesque Boulevard West on July 9 as part of Canada Olympic Excellence Day, one Olympian awarded a medal at Montreal 1976, Greg Louganis, will be present.
Celebrating the honour of the five rings bestowed upon the Canadian Olympic House, which is used as an office and resource centre for Canadian sport, Louganis will return to the city where he won his first of five Olympic medals.
Greg Louganis’ Olympic rings, pictured on February 1, 2011 while training divers in Fullerton, California (Photo: AP/Jae C. Hong).
Louganis, then 16, won silver in the 10-metre platform with a final point total of 576.99. In first place after the preliminaries, the American couldn’t fend off Italian challenger Klaus Dibiasi (600.51) in the final rounds on July 27, 1976. Dibiasi himself became a five-time Olympic medallist in Montreal, his final Olympic Games.
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As the torch passed from Dibiasi to Louganis in the world of diving, Montreal would be the last time the U.S. diver was to lose an Olympic event, although he had to wait eight years for his next trip to the podium due to the United States’ boycott of Moscow 1980.
At Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988, Louganis won gold in both the 3m and 10m events bringing his Olympic career tally to five medals – the impressive collection that began in Montreal 12 years earlier.
Greg Louganis (left) & Mark Tewksbury at University of Toronto for #OneTeam announcement on April 23, 2015.
Although Americans and Canadians enjoy a healthy and at times heated rivalry, Louganis has a warm relationship with Canada, recently helping the Canadian Olympic Committee with its #OneTeam initiative to aid LGBTQ athletes and coaches.
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The diving legend will revisit his first Olympic city on July 9 to help celebrate what figures to be a very special day alongside fans and many other champions.
