SPORTS
Dozens of Out Athletes in Beijing for Winter Olympics
There are 35 LGBTQ competitors in China this year
BY MATT TRACY
More than two dozen
out LGBTQ athletes
are on the world
stage in Beijing this
month to compete in the Winter
Olympics.
There are a total of 35 out athletes
in the Winter Olympic Games, according
to a list compiled by Outsports.
com and LGBTQ historian Tony
Scupham-Bilton. The total number of
out athletes has grown signifi cantly
from just 15 individuals in 2018, and
LGBTQ male representation has
sharply risen from four to 11. Prior to
2018, there were no out male athletes
in the Winter Olympics.
The encouraging LGBTQ representation
at the Winter Olympics
follows a stunning display of queer
visibility at the Summer Olympics
in Tokyo last year. There were at
least 186 out athletes in Tokyo —
including out trans weightlifter
Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand
and non-binary soccer player
Quinn of Canada.
More of the out athletes in the
Winter Olympics are participating
in hockey (12) than any other sport,
followed by fi gure skating, which
has 10 out participants. Canada is
leading the way with 10 out athletes
in total. The out LGBTQ ice
hockey players are all women.
Notably, there is one non-binary
athlete, Timothy LeDuc of the
USA. LeDuc is a pair skater alongside
Ashley Cain-Gribble — and
the duo won a national title at the
2022 US Championships.
In addition to Timothy LeDuc,
there are fi ve other out athletes
representing the United States:
Figure skaters Jason Brown and
Amber Glenn; ice hockey player
Alex Carpenter; skeleton player
Andrew Blaser; and speedskater
The American women’s ice hockey team competes against Finland at Wukesong Sports Centre in
Beijing, China on February 3, 2022.
Brittany Bowe.
Other countries represented by
out athletes include Armenia, Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Brazil,
Czech Republic, Finland, France,
REUTERS/BRIAN SNYDER
Great Britain, the Netherlands,
and Sweden.
The Olympics will conclude on
February 22. Visit NBCSports.com
to see the full schedule of events.
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