Olympic gymnast Tomás González came out as gay and vaulted to new heights

queerty.com:

This profile is part of Queerty’s 2023 Out For Good series, recognizing public figures who’ve had the courage to come out and make a difference in the past year.Name: Tomás González, 37Bio: González is a Chilean gymnast specializing in vault and floor exercises, who was the first in his country to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games.

He has competed in the last three consecutive Summer Games.Throughout his career, the artistic gymnast has won nine medals at World Cup events, six medals at the Pan American Games, and seven medals at the South American Games.In 2011, he was ranked no.1 in the world in floor and vault exercises for the first time.González qualified for his first Olympics at the 2012 London Games, where he placed 4th in the vault and floor finals.

Four years later, he finished seventh in the vault at the 2016 Rio Games. He also participated at the 2021 Tokyo Games.A post shared by Tomas Gonzalez (@tomasgonzalez1)A post shared by Tomas Gonzalez (@tomasgonzalez1)A post shared by Tomas Gonzalez (@tomasgonzalez1)Coming out: In July 2023, González publicly came out for the first time while promoting his new autobiography, Champion: Lessons, triumphs and falls of an Olympic gymnast.In the midst of an interview, the world-class athlete took the huge leap and shared his truth.“I suppose it is no longer an issue, but yes, I am gay,” he told the Chilean outlet La Tercera. “And if it is about making it public, I prefer to do it in this book.”A post shared by Tomas Gonzalez (@tomasgonzalez1)Growing up in a conservative family, Gonzalez said he didn’t fully accept himself until he was around 24 years old.“I cried a lot those days,” he shared. “I was in the process of coming to terms with being homosexual and I felt like a part of me was dying too.” After coming out to his inner circle in 2010, he was pleasantly surprised by their reaction and by the end of the year celebrated his birthday with his parents and his first boyfriend.Still, he felt held back by the.