While Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy are in the spotlight as the first openly gay men to compete for the U.S. Olympic team, there are a numerous lesbian and bi women athletes to watch as well during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
According to Outsports, the 2018 Winter Olympics has the largest number of out gay, lesbian, and bi athletes of any winter Olympic games, with 15 openly gay and bisexual Olympians. Of the 15, 11 are women:
Brittany Bowe, speed skater for the U.S. Getty Belle Brockhoff, lesbian snowboarder for Australia
Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, lesbian ski jumper for Austria Photo by Stanko Gruden/Agence Zoom/Getty Images
Barbara Jezer?ek, lesbian cross country skier for Australia photo via Alchetron
Cheryl Maas, lesbian snowboarder for the Netherlands Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Simona Meiler, lesbian snowboarder for Switzerland FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images
Kim Meylemans, lesbian skeleton racer for Belgium Photo by Jorge Luis Alvarez Pupo/Getty Images
Emilia Andersson Ramboldt, lesbian ice hockey player for Sweden photo via wikipedia
Sarka Pan?ochová, lesbian snowboarder for the Czech Republic Photo by Matej Divizna/Getty Images
Sophie Vercruyssen, bobsledder for Belgium photo via Twitter
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images
Historically, many more women have competed as out lesbian and bisexual athletes than men. At the past two Winter Olympics, all of the out LGB athletes have been women, and 11 of the 12 out athletes in the 2008 Summer Olympics were women.
French tennis player Amélie Mauresmo was one of the first lesbians to be out before competing in the Olympics. She came out in 1999 at the age of 19 after being criticized for her masculinity during the Australian Open. She went on to win a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, and said that being open about her sexuality made her a better athlete.
The winter Olympics have also historically had fewer out contestants than the summer Olympics. There were 64 out Olympians in the 2016 Rio Olympics (50 of whom were women) and 23 in the 2012 London Olympics. However, there were only six in the Vancouver Olympics and seven in the Sochi Olympics, all of whom were women.
The Sochi Olympics received harsh criticism from the gay community because of Russia’s 2013 ban on gay activism. Cheryl Mass, who is back at Pyeongchang, made headlines when she held up her rainbow-colored gloves after failing to make the finals in Sochi. Brockhoff was also critical of the Sochi Olympics, publicly coming out before the games to take a stand against the country’s homophobia.
The world of sports has been called the ‘final frontier’ for acceptance by many, with numerous athletes still waiting to come out until their professional careers are over. It’s exciting to see so many lesbians and bi women who are out and proud in Pyeongchang, and we hope to see many more in the future.
Ireen Wüst, bisexual speed skater for the Netherlands
(So far, Wüst has won both gold and silver speed skating medals at the 2018 Olympics)
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images
Historically, many more women have competed as out lesbian and bisexual athletes than men. At the past two Winter Olympics, all of the out LGB athletes have been women, and 11 of the 12 out athletes in the 2008 Summer Olympics were women.
French tennis player Amélie Mauresmo was one of the first lesbians to be out before competing in the Olympics. She came out in 1999 at the age of 19 after being criticized for her masculinity during the Australian Open. She went on to win a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, and said that being open about her sexuality made her a better athlete.
The winter Olympics have also historically had fewer out contestants than the summer Olympics. There were 64 out Olympians in the 2016 Rio Olympics (50 of whom were women) and 23 in the 2012 London Olympics. However, there were only six in the Vancouver Olympics and seven in the Sochi Olympics, all of whom were women.
The Sochi Olympics received harsh criticism from the gay community because of Russia’s 2013 ban on gay activism. Cheryl Mass, who is back at Pyeongchang, made headlines when she held up her rainbow-colored gloves after failing to make the finals in Sochi. Brockhoff was also critical of the Sochi Olympics, publicly coming out before the games to take a stand against the country’s homophobia.
The world of sports has been called the ‘final frontier’ for acceptance by many, with numerous athletes still waiting to come out until their professional careers are over. It’s exciting to see so many lesbians and bi women who are out and proud in Pyeongchang, and we hope to see many more in the future.
