Winter Olympics: Record number of out LGBTQ athletes set to compete
metroweekly.comonly 15 out LGBTQ athletes competed.Outsports reports that the athletes hail from 14 countries and will compete in nine different sports, including ice hockey, figure skating, skiing, and snowboarding.They include veteran LGBTQ competitors like Canadian figure skater Eric Radford, the first out gay man to win a gold Winter Olympics medal, bisexual Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, the most decorated LGBTQ Olympian of all time, and gay skier Gus Kenworthy, who will be competing for Great Britain after switching from Team USA (Kenworthy holds dual citizenship).Also Read: A tennis player yelled anti-gay slurs at the Olympics.
He blamed the weather.The Beijing Winter Games will also feature a number of freshly out LGBTQ athletes, including Brazilian skeleton athlete Nicole Silveira and Team USA figure skater Timothy LeDuc, who will be the first out nonbinary athlete at the Winter Olympics.Team USA’s Brittany Bowe, a world record-holding speed skater, holds the honor of being the only out LGBTQ athlete to be chosen as a flag bearer for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.Bowe, the only openly LGBTQ woman athlete on Team USA, will compete in her third Olympic games in Beijing.
She has already made waves at the games even before stepping onto the ice, after she sacrificed her spot in one of three events she qualified for — the 500-meter race — so that fellow Team USA athlete Erin Jackson could secure a place at the Winter Games.“It’s just the spirit of the Olympics and being a great teammate,” she told NBCSports.com. “And yes, it’s bigger than just me.
It’s Team USA. Erin has a shot to bring home a medal, hopefully, a gold medal, and it’s my honor to give her that opportunity.”Also Read: Tom Daley wants Olympics to ban countries.
