Top Team USA Moment: Greg Louganis hits head, wins gold

U.S. diver Greg Louganis hits his head on the diving board during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Greg Louganis will go down in history as one of the greatest divers ever following his back-to-back double gold medals in the platform and springboard events at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

In Los Angeles, Louganis comfortably fulfilled his role as the favorite for two gold medals after have gone undefeated since 1982. He became the first diver to win both events at an Olympics since 1928.

In the 3-meter springboard event, his winning margin of 92.1 points was the biggest ever at the Olympics. The 10-meter platform final saw him become the first diver to score over 700 points for his 10 dives.

However, Louganis' path to the top of the podium was much more difficult four years later.

Prior to Seoul, he had twice been beaten by China's Tan Liangde in springboard competitions and although he lead the preliminary round after eight dives, he hit his head on the board as he tried to execute his ninth effort.

Stitches were applied and 35 minutes later he was ready to take his final two dives. He just edged into the final but then acquired his third Olympics gold medal after a dive-for-dive duel with Tan.

Seven days later, Louganis found himself another tense battle with a Chinese diver.

This time it was the 14-year-old Xiong Ni who was his main rival and Louganis only overtook the teenager with a well-executed and extremely difficult final dive - a reverse three-and-a-half somersault in the tuck position - to win by a mere 1.14 points.