6. Greg Louganis

It’s always a shock when an athlete reveals that he or she is suffering from a disease, since they lead incredibly healthy lives to keep their bodies (and thus, their livelihood) up and running.

Alas, sickness is not picky, and HIV can hit anyone who is not careful. Greg Louganis, a popular and beloved Olympian athlete who won several gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, revealed his diagnosis in 1995.

However, he did not do it by simply issuing a statement. Louganis wrote and published a book in 1995, called Breaking the Surface, in which he talked about his life, including his AIDS diagnosis.

Although he faced backlash after the book came out, Louganis said that being open about the issue was the right thing to do.