The Advocate released their annual Forty Under 40 this week. The list highlights the work of LGBT people under 40 who are making a difference. It was cool to see several people on the list that had gotten their initial introduction to the U.S. here at Outsports: Wrestler Akil Patterson (right), speed skater Blake Skjellerup [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Blake Skjellerup’
Blake Skjellerup reports from his first trip to post-earthquake New Zealand
Editor’s Note: Out Olympic speedskater Blake Skjellerup is visiting his home country New Zealand this week for the first time since a devastating earthquake there. He shares his thoughts with us here. It has been one month since a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit my hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. In my first time home since [...]
Blake Skjellerup hits World Skating Championships in England
Out speed skater Blake Skjellerup is in England this weekend at the ISU World Short Track Championships. In his first event, the 1500-meter, he wasn’t able to get out of the quarterfinals finishing 4th in his heat. But as he told me via Skype, he’s just coming off a really bad flu and he has [...]
Out athlete tells others to stay in the closet
Out lesbian German goalkeeper Ursula Holl continues a sad trend of out athletes trying to convince other athletes to not come out. Out Olympian Blake Skjellerup picked up on it last week and set the record straight (so to speak). First he got Holl’s comments translated…. “I think it is problematic that gay players should [...]
Vote: Outsports Sportsperson of the year
While the search for the first openly gay active pro athlete in the big four American sports continues, there was a lot of good that happened for gays in sports in 2010. Many more athletes came out, many more straight allies came on board, and transgender athletes became big stories for the first time in [...]
Robert Dover, Olympians talk ‘It Gets Better’
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 [...]
Blake Skjellerup’s Christmas wish
It’s early November, and that means the stores are decorating for Christmas. This year, Blake Skjellerup is getting a jump on the holiday by writing an early letter to Santa Claus. In the letter, the Olympic skater asks Saint Nick to help make his home country of New Zealand, and the rest of the world, [...]
Blake Skjellerup: Coming out all positive
New Zealand Olympic short-track speedskater Blake Skjellerup came out this May. It was a decision that has left him with no regrets. “[I] just [wanted] to share my story with other people,” Skjellerup told the Otago Daily Times. And since I’ve come out I’ve had a lot of encouraging support from other gay athletes 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, [...]
Podcast with out Olympian Blake Skjellerup
Our podcast this week features an interview with Blake Skejellerup, the New Zealand short track speedskater who is openly gay. He is living in Canada, where he is able to train full time. He was a terrific guest, lively and funny as he spoke about his career and life on the short track circuit for [...]
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 [...]