The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway in Beijing. Between now and February 20, we’ll spotlight some of the inspiring LGBTQ athletes vying for gold.French ice dancing duo Guillaume Cizeron and Gabriella Papadakis competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but a wardrobe malfunction kept them from reaching the top of the podium when the clasp holding Papadakis’s dress together came undone.Still, the partners managed an impressive silver medal, and now they’re back to compete in Beijing in what we assume will be fully-sealed costumes.Cizeron is a seven-time French National Champion and four-time World Champion who made history by winning the European Championships five times in a row.Born in France, Cizeron relocated to Canada in 2014 at age 20 to continue his skating training, though still competed under the French flag in skating events.In 2020, he came out on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia by sharing a photo with his boyfriend on Instagram.“I wanted to share this publicly because it was world day against homophobia and transphobia,” he told Têtu. “I told myself that by living in Montreal, one of the cities where we feel the most free as a person from the LGBT community, we tend to forget how this is not the case everywhere in Canada and in other countries, even in France.
So exposing oneself serves the cause.”“Celebrate love,” he captioned the adorable shot. A post shared by Guillaume Cizeron (@guillaume_cizeron)Here’s hoping this incredible, queer athlete can soon celebrate gold as well.
A post shared by Guillaume Cizeron (@guillaume_cizeron) A post shared by Guillaume Cizeron (@guillaume_cizeron) A post shared by Guillaume Cizeron (@guillaume_cizeron) A post shared by Guillaume Cizeron.