Four-time Olympic equestrian medalist Robert Dover hosted a who’s-who of gay Olympians on his radio show this week to talk about teen suicide and life for gay kids after high school and college. The show featured Guenter Seidel, Blake Skjellerup, Sherri Cassuto and David Pichler, along with messages from Mark Tewksbury and Bruce Hayes. You [...]
Posts under ‘Olympics’
2012 Olympics looking for gay volunteers
From PinkPaper.com: Organizers behind both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are appealing to the gay community for volunteers. Officials behind the London 2012 Games are launching their volunteer recruitment campaign today in the hope to sign-up 70,000 helpers who will make the event happen. Share on Facebook
John Amaechi dunks for London Olympics
The London Olympic Committee isn’t shying away from working with John Amaechi to promote the Olympics in 2012. His latest appearance was at the new basketball arena for the Olympics, where Amaechi showed of his shot and showed he can still dunk. He said he was hurting later that day, but he loved it. Tewksbury [...]
Mark Tewksbury head rep for London 2012
I missed this while away in Cologne at the Gay Games, but Canada announced that Olympic swimmer and openly gay athlete Mark Tewksbury has been named the country’s chef de mission for the London 2012 Summer Olympics. This means he will be the head representative and official spokesman for the Canadian Summer Olympics team. Tewksbury, [...]
Gay Games announce Olympic outreach
The Federation of Gay Games has announced a new initiative called OASIS: Out Olympic Athlete Solidarity Inspiration & Support. The program is designed to offer financial support for openly gay Olympic athletes. FGG officer of marketing Doug Litwin, one of the driving forces behind the program, said he hopes they can raise enough money and [...]
Out gay Olympian gets endorsement deal
Yet another sign that there is nothing to lose by coming out of the closet, openly gay Olympic speedskater Blake Skjellerup has gotten an endorsement deal with Air New Zealand to promote their new “Cuddle Class.” I’m not sure if it means the seats are so small you’ll feel like you’re cuddling with your neighbor, [...]
London Olympics to sell gay pride pin
The London 2012 Olympics committee is selling rainbow pins to supports gay rights, in what might be a first for an Olympics. The pins have the stamp of approval from openly gay pro rugby player Gareth Thomas: “It’s great to see Locog (the London 2012 organizing committee) reaching out to all communities and making sure [...]
U.S. hockey team wore Brendan Burke dogtags
If you want to understand the extent to which Brendan Burke’s coming out, and subsequent death, helped advance gay equality in sports, look no further than the U.S. hockey team. One of the most interesting pieces to come out of my conversations with Patrick Burke is the fact that the U.S. hockey team wore dogtags [...]
Weekend hot jock: Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Pistorius (aka “The Blade Runner”) has caused quite a stir over the last few years. Missing the lower halves of his legs, the sprinter has put up times that are near Olympic-qualifying. While the IAAF ruled him ineligible to compete in the Olympics, a court overturned it; And Pistorious’ times made him barely missed [...]
Paralympian aims to compete in the Olympics
Interesting story out of Ireland featuring a sprinter who won gold at the 2008 Paralympics and is how hoping to become the first person to compete in the Olympics and the Paralympics in the same year. Jason Smyth is training with Tyson Gay, and his times put him right in the mix. Smyth said the [...]
Space aliens new Olympic mascots
Every two years the world cries in agony as the latest Olympic mascots are revealed. But these may take the cake. Wenlock and Mandeville are two…well, they’re space aliens. Or Cyclopes. Or one-eyed cats. Or, as one organizer said, “droplets of steel.” OK, whatever they are, they’re hideous. Maybe not as bad as “Izzy,” but [...]
New Zealand Olympian comes out
New Zealand short track speed skater Blake Skjellerup, who competed in the Vancouver Olympics, has come out as gay in an interview with writer Lee Suckling in the Australian magazine DNA (disclosure: I am quoted in the article). Skjellerup says that he walked around Vancouver during the Games hand in hand with his boyfriend and [...]
Canada’s hockey fans learn to hold it in
From a blog at Canoe in Canada, comes this chart from the Edmonton water utility that shows water use during the Olympic gold medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada: Share on Facebook
Videos: Evan Lysacek, U.S. bobsled Top 10 list
David Letterman had gold medalists Evan Lysacek and the U.S. four-man bobsled team present Top 10 lists on his show this week. Lysacek did “Top Ten Thoughts That Went Through Evan Lysacek’s Mind During His Gold Medal Ice Skating Routine.” The bobsledders did “Top Ten Things You Don’t Want to Hear From a Guy in [...]
Corinne Hunt and her 1014 Olympic medals
As the Winter Olympics fade into history, we can’t leave them without celebrating Corinne Hunt, the lesbian First Nation artist who designed those unusual medals. I’ve been watching the Olympics on TV since the 1960s, and can’t remember another Games with medals that stood out so sharply for their powerful — if controversial — presence. [...]