Back on Board: Greg Louganis to Debut on HBO

An intimate documentary chronicling the life of Olympic diver Greg Louganis will debut on Tuesday, August 4 at 10pm on HBO.

In an era when some blog somewhere is posting on Tom Daley every week (and that’s just in the off-season), it can be easy to forget what a recent phenomenon it is to support our gay athletes. Cheryl Furjanic’s new film shows Louganis as a trailblazer in his time, enduring his being called a fag by his own teammates, let alone the public.

While the main elements of Louganis’s story are well-known — the gold medals in 1984, the accident in Seoul, the subsequent HIV disclosure — Back on Board fills in the gaps of his biography, from his childhood marked by bullying and depression and even the recent home-foreclosure crisis.

Back on Board is a unique look at a nexus of homophobia, sports and money. In Louganis’s words: “They say an Olympic gold medal is worth millions; that’s not the reality.”

Back on Board: Greg Louganis premieres Tuesday, August 4 at 10pm on HBO; additional airings are scheduled for August 7, 9, 12, 13, 15 and 21 on HBO; on HBO2; and available for streaming on HBO Go.