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By
Cyd Zeigler
Jr.
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An Israeli
athlete deals with strife thousands of miles
away: Yuval Hets first made a splash on the
international gay-sports scene before the
opening ceremony in Sydney in 2002. Draped with
an Israeli flag, he proudly waved his nation's
flag shirtless to a very welcoming crowd. Four
years later, Hets is making stops in both
Chicago and Montreal. In Chicago, the cyclist,
triathlete and marathoner won three medals; he's
hoping to do the same in Montreal. (click
image for larger view)
At the same time,
his nation is, as he says, at war with the
Islamic militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hets has been away from his home in Tel Aviv
while this has been going on; he left about a
month ago when he headed to Croatia for a
triathlon. He then headed to Chicago and from
there went straight to Montreal.
He's been talking
every day with friends in Israel and reading all
of the news when he wakes up and before he goes
to bed. He said the mood among the Israelis is
"not good." Israel has been attacked by
Hezbollah like they have not been attacked in
many years, and the Israelis will not let it
stand, he said.
He said several
times, as we chatted at the cycling venue, that
neither he nor the Israeli people blame the
Lebanese people. He said that he has talked with
many Lebanese citizens, and they want peace with
Israel as much as he does. And while he doesn't
blame the Lebanese government for the attacks on
Israel, he does blame them for not controlling
Hezbollah.
While in
Montreal, he has met some Lebanese people. At
the opening ceremony, he introduced himself to a
Lebanese student group in Montreal. They seemed
happy to meet him and have their picture taken
with him, but they would not have their picture
taken with the Israeli flag. Hets said they told
him it could precipitate violence against them.
"I told them I
want to strengthen them, that I know how they
feel, and I hope it ends soon," Hets said he
told them. The Lebanese student group invited
Hets to their party here in Montreal on
Thursday. If the straights can't get it right,
maybe they gays can.
The World Pride
parade, which was supposed to take place in
Jerusalem next week, has been cancelled because
of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. Hets
understands and agrees with the decision, but he
is still disappointed that there will be no
parade.
"People don't
feel that it's a good time to celebrate and
being happy in the streets," he said. That
didn't stop him from participating in Montreal's
gay pride parade, held Sunday night. He blamed a
little bit of his 12th place finish
out of all the 19-to-39-year-olds on his heavy
dancing on a float in the parade the night
before his race.
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Hey Mr.
DJ…. It was cool to have DJs spinning
records at the cycling, roller-racing and beach
volleyball venues on Monday. While I'm no big
fan of dance music, it really enlivened the
event. I remember 11-time Gay Games gold
medalist Brian Fell telling me he wishes they
would bring a DJ to track & field. After seeing
how well it worked at these events, I'd agree
with him.
 l
Francine
to the rescue: OK, I finally ran into my
first minor fiasco Monday morning. Trying to
find the cycling venue, I asked a volunteer when
I got off the train at the Jean-Drapeau stop
where I should go. He directed me to the bus.
When I got to the bus, I asked if it was going
to cycling. After about a two-minute
conversation between the four French-speaking
bus drivers, they decided it was best if I walk.
I insisted that walking wasn't a good option.
Finally, Francine (above, click for larger
view), who works for STM, the public
transportation system here, put me in her car
and drove me one minute to cycling. Except, it
was the middle of the track, not where the
racers and spectators were congregating. It was
a lovely 10-minute trip around the island (she
was very sweet) until we finally arrived at the
venue. Much like Sydney in 2002, I'm finding
that the volunteers and people here are soooo
friendly and want desperately to help, but
they're not always equipped to do so.
l
Never too
late to start: Valerie Ritchie, 51, of
Seattle won the over-50 women's category in
cycling in only her second time trial ever. She
started doing triathlons 10 years ago and has
just recently started competing in cycling
events. She's accompanied in Montreal by Kathy
Hastings, her "manager and photographer."
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High
grades for Outgames' rowing: Crew was held
at a gorgeous venue, the Olympic Basin at Parc
Jean-Drapeau. There weren't many spectators,
especially when the second and final day of
competition started at 9 a.m. GLAF head Mac
Chinsomboon, who rowed in both Chicago and
Montreal, said Montreal's venue couldn't have
been better, and the weather, sometimes cool and
partly cloudy with little wind, couldn't have
been more pristine. He also said that the
international flavor at the event, which was
missing two weeks ago, really made the event
special. "The competitors make the event," he
said. Chinsomboon's final grades for the two
crew events: Montreal gets an A; Chicago gets a
C.
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From skier
to runner: Ran into Jordan Goldwarg at crew.
He has been an active member of GLAF for a few
years and, with fellow skier Ryan Quinn, created
an online journal for openly gay athletes to
share their stories. Goldwarg is back in
Montreal (he grew up here) for a bit, and he's
tackling a new challenge on Saturday: his first
marathon, as part of the Outgames. He is aiming
to break three hours, which would be an
incredible feat for his first marathon.
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Quality,
not quantity: While both cycling and
roller-racing feature a mostly international
group of competitors, the Americans swept the
men's 50-and-over cycling race.
l
Bad soccer
habits: My biggest complaint about the World
Cup was how ridiculous the flops were by so many
of the European players. If you looked at one of
them funny, they were likely to collapse to the
ground, writhing in pain. It seems to have
rubbed off on gay players. I watched the Paris
vs. Seattle men's soccer match Monday, and the
Parisians were collapsing on the ground left and
right.
At one point, one
of the Parisian players got knocked over
accidentally and he fell to the ground. There he
lay for about five minutes as the French team
and Outgames volunteers acted as though the
prime pinister had been shot. The Seattle player
who tapped him got a yellow card. The injured
Parisian got up, walked to the sideline with no
effects of the attempted murder, and was back in
playing about three minutes later.
Unfortunately, the head referee, Kimberly
Hadley, bought into every act hook, line and
sinker. It sucked to see a bunch of bad actors
win the game, 3-0.
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Speaking
of the French: There may have been one
exception at Chicago or in Montreal, but every
other person who has refused my request for a
picture has been French. Not French-Canadian –
they have been incredibly warm and welcoming and
eager to have their pictures taken. It happened
at the opening ceremonies in both Chicago and
Montreal; it happened today at cycling; and it
happened today at soccer. Somebody needs to give
these people a chill-pill. (Jim
Buzinski note: The French had no problem
posing for me in Chicago. Cyd must give
off an anti-Gallic vibe).
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"That was
sick, Stephen": At the opening ceremonies,
Seattle's Stephen Nick told me he was great at
throw-ins in soccer. OK, I figured, that's nice.
When he lined up to do one on Monday, I noticed
he was standing about 5 yards from the sideline.
He then took a step, pushed the ball into the
ground, did a back flip, and sent the ball
soaring to directly in front of the goal. The
crowd went crazy, and he did it a second time
later in the match. It was pretty impressive –
and what's more, it was effective; every time he
does that, his team is essentially getting a
corner kick from the sideline.
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Only gold
in crew: Crew is handing out only gold
medals this week. No silver or bronze – only
gold. A couple rowers told me that FISA, the
International Rowing Association, which is
sanctioning the event, only allows gold medals
to be handed out. The Outgames' answer: to hold
several heats in each category and award the
winner of each heat the gold. Sounds like a lame
idea to me; but, I also can't understand this
ridiculous rule of handing out only gold medals.
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An
incredible athlete's village: Wow. That's
what I kept saying to my friends when we went to
Square Viger, what has become the athlete's
village here in Montreal. It's exactly what I
kept wishing similar events in the past had. It
takes up an entire block and offers athletes and
others the standard things like food, beer and
wine, but it also has so much more. A jumbotron
shows video footage of events that have happened
at these Outgames. A huge stage, with a dance
floor in front of it, plays host to DJs and
bands, depending on when you stop by. The space
itself is also gorgeous, with water fountains
and trees making it feel like a park. Jim
Buzinski has lamented at previous events that
they didn't have an athlete's village like the
Gay Games had in Vancouver in 1990. Jim, I
finally understand what you were talking about. |
Rowing
(65 photos)
Water polo
(10 photos)
Wrestling
(24 photos)
Tennis
(18 photos)
Opening cermonies
(59 photos)
Soccer
(12 photos) |
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