The Federation of Gay Games had a couple members at the International Olympic Committee’s Women in Sport conference last month. All of them reported on a strange lack of discussion about lesbian issues. Roger Brigham wrote for the Gay Games blog: But the word “lesbian” went unuttered, as did any mention of the pervasive discrimination [...]
Posts under ‘Olympics’
China sweeps FINA Diving World Cup gold. David Boudia snags fourth in 10m platform.
We followed the FINA Diving World Cup this weekend as we lead up to our Olympics coverage this summer. It was fantastic to see American David Boudia (right) finish strongly in fourth place, just off of the podium, for the Men’s 10m Platform. Qiu Bo took the 10m gold and is setting himself up nicely [...]
Matthew Mitcham fails to make Diving World Cup Finals. David Boudia 5th into finals.
Defending Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham failed to make the 12-man final at the FINA Diving World Cup on Saturday, finishing 13th in the semifinals. He had finished fourth in the preliminary round the day before. Mitcham blamed his less-than-stellar performance on an abdominal injury he dealt with through much of 2011 (you can even [...]
Matthew Mitcham discusses, shows off his pierced tongue
We’re less than six months away from the start of the London Summer Olympics, and Australian diver Matthew Mitcham will be hoping to win another gold medal. Mitcham has an active Twitter feed and he often answers questions sent in by fans. This might fall into the TMI category, but Mitcham discloses that he has [...]
British Olympic diver Tom Daley is all grown up, and he knows it
When we last saw British diver Tom Daley, he was a young 14-year-old Olympian. He’ll be 18 at the Olympics this summer in his home country. What a difference four years makes. He jumped in front of the camera recently, along with some other British Olympic hopefuls, to lip sync to LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and [...]
Top French handballer Alexandra Lacrabère comes out, will play in Summer Olympics
We now know that at least one out lesbian will be participating in the Summer Olympics in London. Alexandra Lacrabère came out to little fanfare in the French magazine Hand Action last November. Yagg.com caught up with her recently and she talked more about being an out lesbian in the popular French sport. Via a rough translation: [...]
Two gay swimmers are among oldest Olympic trial qualifiers ever
Two openly gay swimmers have become two of the three oldest swimmers to ever qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials. Two 37-year-olds, Brian Jacobsen (right) from Minnesota and author Jeff Commings have accomplished the incredible, qualifying for the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke respectively. From nightlifegay.com: What a difference 10 years makes! Not only are [...]
Boxing Association may force female boxers to wear skirts
Imagine gay athletes having to wear pink tutus when they play, or a black athlete being forced to wear a do-rag when they participate. That’s what the Amateur International Boxing Association is trying to do with women, floating the idea that women may soon have to wear skirts in the ring. Women have long worn shorts, [...]
Moment #22: International Olympic Committee allows transgender athletes to compete
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Olympics, 2004. While the IOC has a long history of insensitive and often unproductive gender tests, they have also been ahead of the curve at times with transgender issues. In October 2003 a committee convened in Stockholm, Sweden, to discuss the [...]
Moment #27: María José Martínez-Patiño kicked off Spanish track team, titles stripped
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Track & Field, 1986. For Spanish hurdler María José Martínez-Patiño , the journey to prove her womanhood in the world of sports was costly. In 1983 she competed in the World Track & Field Championships in Helsinki, Finland; It was there she [...]
Moment #30: Athens Summer Olympics has 11 out athletes
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Olympics, 2004. There had been the occasional out athlete at the Olympics before, but 2004 was a coming out party for Olympians. All told at least 11 openly gay athletes participated in the Olympics in the birthplace of the Games. From [...]
Moment #34: Canadian volleyball coach Betty Baxter fired amidst rumors she is a lesbian
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Volleyball, 1982. Betty Baxter was a successful Canadian volleyball player and coach. After being named the head coach of the women’s national volleyball team in 1979, she won the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union’s coach of the year award. Yet in 1982, amid [...]
Moment #49: IOC suspends mandatory gender testing for female athletes
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Olympics, 1999. In the early 1960s, rumors swirled around the Soviet and Eastern Bloc Olympic teams that some of the women were actually men. While Avery Brundage requested gender tests as early as the Berlin Games of 1936, it wasn’t until 1968 [...]
Roger Skedd, naked Olympic hopeful, for hire
If you’re in the UK and want a hot, naked Olympic hopeful to work your party…you’re in luck! Decathlete Roger Skedd is funding his Olympic training in part by working nights as a naked butler at private parties, including those of gay men. Skedd told the Mirror: Sometimes you’re at a several million pound townhouse [...]
Moment #79: Mark Tewksbury, Canadian Olympic gold medalist, comes out
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Swimming, 1998. Mark Tewksbury was one of the most celebrated athletes in Canada in the late 1980s and early 1990s. When he won the gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics for 100m backstroke, he was the first Canadian swimmer to [...]
Peter Vidmar steps down from Olympics post after his views on gay marriage are known
Peter Vidmar has resigned at chief of mission for the U.S. Olympic team in 2012 after controversy erupted over his vigorous opposition to gay marriage. Said Vidmar in a statement: “I wish that my personal religious beliefs would not have become a distraction from the amazing things that are happening in the Olympic movement in [...]
Johnny Weir rips choice of anti-gay marriage advocate Peter Vidmar for key Olympic job
Openly gay figure skater Johnny Weir has condemned the choice of Peter Vidmar to be chief of mission for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team in London. Vidmar is a strong opponent of gay marriage. Weir told Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune: “I certainly wouldn’t want to be represented by someone who is anti gay [...]
Peter Vidmar, anti-gay marriage advocate, chief of mission for U.S. 2012 Olympic team
The U.S. Olympic Committee has named Peter Vidmar, a 1984 gold medalist in gymnastics, as its chief of mission for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team in London. In this job, Vidmar will be the liaison officer for the U.S. team in dealing with the International Olympic Committee and London organizers. Vidmar, a Mormon, is an [...]
Carl Lewis is running…for New Jersey Senate. Will he address his sexual orientation?
Olympic superstar Carl Lewis on Monday announced his candidacy for the New Jersey State Senate. He didn’t shy away from the obvious double entendre in his announcement: “When I run, as you see my record, I run to win,” he said at a news conference Monday in Mount Holly in Burlington County. “I’m slower than [...]
Meet your 2014 Winter Olympics mascots
The 2014 Sochi, Russia, Winter Olympics have unveiled their five mascots, and for once they don’t immediately make you want to gag. We have Leopard, Polar Bear, Hare, Ray of Light and Snowflake. Sure beats the London 2012 logo, which Iran says symbolizes Zionism and is racist, and others think looks like Lisa Simpson giving [...]