The Miami Hurricanes Top 100 Plus Sports Icons

13. Greg Louganis

The greatest diver in Olympic history, Louganis came to Miami from Mission Viejo, California. Louganis’ legend began before he matriculated at UM. He won a silver medal at the Montreal Olympics as a 16-year-old in 1976.  Once enrolled as a Hurricane, Louganis won three national titles and was twice named an All-American.

Louganis continued in the Olympics after he left Miami. He was unable to compete in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to the US Boycott. In Los Angeles in 1984, Louganis became the first male diver to win three meter and 10-meter springboard events in the Olympics since 1928. He did so by the largest margins of victory in modern Olympic history to that point.

Louganis won the Jesse Owens Award in 1987 as the year’s top amateur athlete. He became the first diver to win back to back titles in the Olympics in Seoul in 1988 after suffering a concussion after his head on the springboard. He would be honored as the ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year at the end of that year.

Louganis is a member of the United States Olympic Hall of Fame