LGBTQ+ Winter Olympics Athletes
The Winter Olympics have grown to be more inclusive over the years, but continues to hold a much smaller number of out athletes compared to its Summer counterpart. Nevertheless, it’s important to highlight the athletes of Team LGBTQ+ and their amazing achievements. Check out the list of LGBTQ+ athletes competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Team USA
Amber Glenn-figure skating
Glenn is one of the few out bisexual and pansexual athletes in figure skating, and is the only queer woman on the USA figure skating team. She unfortunately tested positive for COVID, so is unable to compete, but stands as an alternate for the team.
Andrew Blaser-skeleton
Blaser has competed in a variety of other sports before taking up Skeleton, from the decathlon to cheerleading and volleyball. He is one of the few openly gay men on Team USA, with the 2022 Olympics marking his first Olympic run.
Brittany Bowe-speed skating
Bowe is set to compete in her 3rd Olympics, and was the first out athlete to earn a spot on Team USA for this year’s Olympics. She recently made headlines after giving up her spot in the 500m to fellow Olympian Erin Jackson after Jackson placed 3rd during the trials due to a slip; Bowe will still compete in the 1000m and 1500m competitions.
Jason Brown-figure skating
The coming 2022 Winter Olympics will be Brown’s first time competing as an openly out gay man, although this is his 3rd Olympics. He became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic medalists during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. In 2018, he was unable to make it onto Team USA, but worked hard to come back this time around, earning his spot to compete with the team.
Timothy LeDuc-pair figure skating
LeDuc will be the first openly non-binary athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics, marking a huge milestone for trans and non-binary athletes who aspire to compete at the Olympics some day. They will be competing along with their skating partner, Ashley Cain-Gribble, after the pair won 1st at US Nationals in Jan 2022.
Netherlands
Ireen Wüst-speed skating
Wüst made history in 2006 as the youngest Dutch Olympic gold medalist and is now the most decorated LGBTQ+ Olympian ever. The talented bisexual woman will be competing in her 5th Olympics for her home country, hoping to add to her 5 gold, 5 silver, and 1 bronze.
France
Guillaume Cizeron-ice dancing
Cizeron is one of the most decorated ice dancers along with his competition partner, Gabriella Papadakis, with the pair breaking 28 world records. He came out as gay in May 2020 through an Instagram post of him and his boyfriend on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia.
Kévin Aymoz-figure skating
Aymoz will be competing in his first Olympics, after winning 1st in the 2022 French Championships. He is openly gay and was one of 6 French LGBTQ+ athletes in the TV documentary We Need to Talk, which came out during Pride Month 2021.
Canada
Paul Poirier-ice dancing
Poirier will be representing Canada at the 2022 Olympics with dancing partner Piper Gilles after the pair won bronze in the 2021 World Championships. He will be one of two out gay men competing for Canada.
Eric Radford-pairs figure skating
Radford was the first competitive figure skater to come out during his career, rather than waiting for retirement- an occurrence not limited to just his sport but still a relatively common practice. He was also the first openly gay man to win a gold medal in Winter Olympics in 2018 and will be competing with skating partner Vanessa James.
Great Britain
Bruce Mouat-curling
Mouat currently leads, or “skips” as it’s called in the sport, Britain’s four-man curling team. He also has a highly decorated history representing his homeland of Scotland, and credits his success to coming out as gay.
Australia
Belle Brockoff-snowboarding
Brockoff came out as lesbian in 2013 and was a vocal part of the Olympic protests during the Sochi Olympics of Russian anti-gay laws. She will be competing in 3rd Olympics and her first since tearing her ACL in 2018.