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A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES. "Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, image 1
A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES. "Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, image 2
A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES. "Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, image 3
A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES. "Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, image 4
A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES. "Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, image 5
A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES. "Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, image 6
Lot 3

A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES.
"Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal,

14 September 2023, 12:00 PDT
Los Angeles

US$3,000 - US$5,000

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A 1976 OLYMPIC ALBUM CREATED BY GREG LOUGANIS'S MOTHER, FRANCES.

"Olympics 1976 / Montreal / Canada." Folio album with 20 leaves, [El Cajon, CA, 1976], featuring photographs, telegrams and clippings documenting Greg Louganis's journey to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, some toning to album extremities, spotting to covers, interior content generally quite good.

Vintage 1970s album of photos, documents and memorabilia relating to Greg Louganis's appearance at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal as the phenom of the US Men's Diving team, compiled by Louganis's beloved mother Frances. With carefully crafted lettering to the upper cover and remarkable attention to detail inside, Frances saved team photographs and snap shots, along with Greg's newspaper appearances and related Games ephemera to make this remarkable time capsule of his first appearance on the world stage. Highlights include:

Leaf 1: an 8 x 10 inch color print of the US Olympic Diving Team, with 16-year-old Louganis at the upper center; with Gold medalists Phil Boggs (3-meter) and Jennifer Chandler (3-meter springboard) and bronze medalists Cynthia Potter and Deborah Wilson. Team USA won the medal count at the 1976 Olympics with a total of 5. Verso: an 8 x 10 inch color print of Team USA marching in the opening ceremonies of the 1976 Olympics.

Leaf 2: Two Western Union telegrams, the first dated August 2, 1976, from Gerald Ford inviting Louganis to the White House for a reception honoring the Olympic Team; the second dated August 3, also from Ford, congratulating Louganis on his outstanding performance.

Leaf 6: an invitation to an "Appreciation Luncheon" thrown by the El Cajon Chamber of Commerce, September 8, 1976, ticket #1.

Leaf 7: 4 snapshots of the various Olympic teams gathered on the field, probably taken by Frances or Pete during opening or closing ceremonies.

Leaf 17: clipping of the start list for springboard diving, July 21, at the "piscine Olympique" with Louganis, athlete #425, diving 19th of 30 divers.

Leaves 19-20: 5 color snapshots of Greg with his parents and Dr. Sammy Lee, celebrating his results at the Olympics (cutting a cake with a diving board on it).

Much of the news clippings here hail from Greg's hometown paper, the San Diego Union. Some of the stories include the day-to-day news of his Olympic performance; a report on Louganis's "shocked" reaction to the reception he received upon returning home; an editorial arguing that, next to Nadia Comaneci and swimmer John Naber, Louganis garnered the most attention of any US Athlete at the 1976 summer Olympics; a story on the toothache Louganis suffered the night before the platform trials. There are also plenty of "I knew him when" articles interviewing friends and family, including a 7th grade girlfriend and "Aunt Gerry."

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