Wheaties has announced that four-time Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis will be featured on a cereal box.
Wheaties will also honor hurdler Edwin Moses and swimmer Janet Evans as part of a revamped "legends" series.
Speaking to NPR's All Things Considered, Louganis welcomed the recognition.
"[It's] so incredible to be honored with the likes of Edwin Moses – we were in our first Olympic games in 1976 together. Janet Evans – we trained at Mission Viejo together – I watched her grow up," he said.
Chicago mom Julie Sondgerath said that she decided to start a change.org petition calling on General Mills to put Louganis on a Wheaties box after watching the HBO documentary Back on Board, which follows Louganis as he reunites with diving, the sport he dominated in the early '80s.
General Mills at the time told reporters that it had denied Louganis the cover because he did not meet their "wholesome demographics," a possible reference to rumors that Louganis was gay. In his 1988 best-selling memoir Breaking the Surface, Louganis came out gay and HIV-positive.
General Mills said that Sondgerath's petition did not factor into their decision.
"We were aware of the petition, as we see this all the time from fans wanting their favorite athlete on the box," General Mills spokesman Mike Siemienas told NPR. "But appearing on a Wheaties box is not a popularity contest. Wheaties chooses athletes based on their achievements on and off their field of play."
Louganis, who married husband Johnny Chaillot in 2013, said that the cover means more to him today than it would have in the 1980s.
"Back in '95, I wasn't expected to live very long because we thought of HIV-AIDS as a death sentence, so to be here today, now 56, the box means so much more to me than it would have then because I feel like I'm being embraced as a whole person, not just for my athletic achievements," he said.
Wheaties will also honor hurdler Edwin Moses and swimmer Janet Evans as part of a revamped "legends" series.
Speaking to NPR's All Things Considered, Louganis welcomed the recognition.
"[It's] so incredible to be honored with the likes of Edwin Moses – we were in our first Olympic games in 1976 together. Janet Evans – we trained at Mission Viejo together – I watched her grow up," he said.
Chicago mom Julie Sondgerath said that she decided to start a change.org petition calling on General Mills to put Louganis on a Wheaties box after watching the HBO documentary Back on Board, which follows Louganis as he reunites with diving, the sport he dominated in the early '80s.
General Mills at the time told reporters that it had denied Louganis the cover because he did not meet their "wholesome demographics," a possible reference to rumors that Louganis was gay. In his 1988 best-selling memoir Breaking the Surface, Louganis came out gay and HIV-positive.
General Mills said that Sondgerath's petition did not factor into their decision.
"We were aware of the petition, as we see this all the time from fans wanting their favorite athlete on the box," General Mills spokesman Mike Siemienas told NPR. "But appearing on a Wheaties box is not a popularity contest. Wheaties chooses athletes based on their achievements on and off their field of play."
Louganis, who married husband Johnny Chaillot in 2013, said that the cover means more to him today than it would have in the 1980s.
"Back in '95, I wasn't expected to live very long because we thought of HIV-AIDS as a death sentence, so to be here today, now 56, the box means so much more to me than it would have then because I feel like I'm being embraced as a whole person, not just for my athletic achievements," he said.
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine
