The Olympic Summer Games of 2016 held in Rio, Brazil have been recorded into our history books, as the biggest out athlete LGBT presence ever recorded. Although, we won’t be able to see the bulging muscles of the gymnasts, the hairless swimmers at the pool or the lycra shorts on the track for another four years, in Tokyo 2020, team LGBT did make a statement in Rio. However, in 2018 at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, Korea, we are sure team LGBT will have a presence again. Who could resist the gay snow bunnies on the ski slops, the glitter turns in the skating rinks and better yet the lycra jumpsuits at the speed skating track? YAAAS Queen!
Anyway, back to Rio, almost half of the publicly out LGBT athletes competing in the Rio Olympics won a medal, which is a drastically higher percentage than the athletes in general. All told, 25 of the 53 publicly out athletes that we know of — a full 47% — won a medal, including 10 athletes winning gold. This number was made higher, thanks in part to the success of the Swedish women’s soccer team and the American women’s basketball team, which combined account for almost a third of the athletes winning medals. It is odd that being publicly out would translate to Olympic success in the Summer Games. You have to wonder if there is a correlation.
Gold Medals
Nicola Adams
Great Britain, Boxing
51kg weight class
Kate Richardson-Walsh
Great Britain, Field hockey
Helen Richardson-Walsh
Great Britain, Field hockey
Susannah Townsend
Great Britain, Field hockey
Rafaela Silva
Brazil, Judo
Women’s 57kg
Seimone Augustus
United States, Basketball Team USA
Elena Delle Donne
United States, Basketball Team USA
Brittney Griner
United States, Basketball Team USA
Angel McCoughtry
United States, Basketball Team USA
Caster Semenya
South Africa, Track and Field
800 meters
Silver Medals
Alexandra Lacrabère
France, Handball
Lisa Dahlkvist
Sweden, Soccer
Nilla Fischer
Sweden, Soccer
Hedvig Lindahl
Sweden, Soccer
Caroline Seger
Sweden, Soccer
Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel
Netherlands, Field Hockey
Maartje Paumen
Netherlands, Field Hockey
Sunette Viljoen
South Africa, Track & Field
Javelin
Rachele Bruni
Italy, Swimming
10km
Carl Hester
Great Britain, Dressage
Spencer Wilton
Great Britain, Dressage
Bronze Medals
Stephanie Labbe
Canada, Soccer
Marie-Eve Nault
Canada, Soccer
Tom Daley
Great Britain, Diving
Jen Kish
Canada, Rugby
Women’s sevens