The United States leads the world in the growing number of publicly out LGBTQ athletes. As it did at the Tokyo Games, Team USA also has the most out athletes of any country at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, too.
This year at least 29 out LGBTQ athletes will be representing the United States. That’s about 5% of all of the athletes competing for Team USA at these Olympics.
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Team LGBTQ at the 2024 Paris Summer Games
The list of out gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary Olympians will continue to grow.
By Outsports | June 28, 2024
As Outsports has researched who’s in, who’s out, and who’s… mmmmmm… not sure, one dynamic we’ve noticed is that American athletes are much more likely to post about their private lives. Athletes in many other countries simply don’t. This holds for gay and straight athletes.
So it’s on average a bit easier to identify an American who is publicly out than athletes from other countries.
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One interesting note from Team LGBTQ is that there is only one publicly out man on Team USA: distance runner Nico Young.
In addition to the athletes, there are out coaches as well, including women’s basketball coaches Cheryl Reeve and Curt Miller.
While we know there are more LGBTQ American athletes in Paris this year, here are the ones we know are publicly out.
Basketball
Kahleah Copper
Kahleah Copper was the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP with the Phoenix Mercury, capturing the league championship. She posted engagement photos with Swedish National Team player Binta Daisy Drammeh last year, but they seem to have since been deleted.
Chelsea Gray
There haven’t been a ton of WNBA players to win league titles with two different teams, but Chelsea Gray is one of them. She’s got one championship with the Los Angeles Sparks, and now two with the Las Vegas Aces. She was also on the USA team that won gold in Tokyo.
Brittney Griner
Maybe the highest-profile player in WNBA history after her incarceration in Russia, Brittney Griner again takes the international stage just 18 months after being freed. She hasn’t won a WNBA title since her second season, in 2014, though she’s been named an All-Star almost every season she played: nine times. This will be her third Olympics, having won gold twice before.
Jewell Loyd
Jewell Loyd is aiming for her second Olympic gold medal, having joined team USA for gold in Tokyo. She’s won two WNBA titles, both with Seattle. She was the WNBA league scoring leader last season.
Breanna Stewart
Breanna Stewart is one of the best women’s basketball players of all time. She’s won two gold medals with Team USA, and she’s won two WNBA Championships, with Seattle. She was the Finals MVP both years.
Diana Taurasi
Diana Taurasi is considered by many to be THE best women’s basketball player of all time. The all-time WNBA points leader by a mile, Taurasi has won three WNBA titles and been named an All-Star 10 times, all with the Phoenix Mercury. She is competing in her sixth Summer Olympics, and she’s won gold every previous time.
Alyssa Thomas
Alyssa Thomas has been in the WNBA for a decade and has been named an All-Star four times. She was selected in the 2014 WNBA pick fourth overall. Yet this will be the Connecticut Sun star’s first Olympic Games. If it took Thomas 10 years, you have to wonder why people are screaming about Clark not getting it in 10 weeks. Thomas is engaged to Sun teammate DeWanna Bonner.
See the full list of out LGBTQ Olympic athletes in Paris
BMX Freestyle
Hannah Roberts
Hannah Roberts is competing in her second Olympic Games, after winning a silver medal for Team USA in Tokyo.
Perris Benegas
Perris Benegas also will compete at her second Summer Games at the 2024 Olympics. In Tokyo, Benegas finished fourth, just off the podium. She won the 2023 NORA Cup for Women’s Rider of the Year.
Canoe Slalom
Evy Leibfarth
At the 2024 Olympics, Evy Leibfarth will be the first American to have competed in three different canoe and kayak events. Paris will be her second Olympic Games.
Fencing
Lauren Scruggs
A fencer at Harvard, Lauren Scruggs grew up in New York City. She picked up fencing after her brother started competing in the sport.
Rowing
Nina Castagna
Cristina Castagna competed for the University of Washington and was in the eight both that finished second at the 2023 World Championships.
Teal Cohen
Teal Cohen will compete in the quad sculls for Team USA. She has also competed for the University of Washington.
Alina Hagstrom
Alina Hagstrom is an alternate for the US Rowing team. She competed in college for Oregon State and is currently an operations coordinator for US Rowing. She is a reserve for Team USA in Tokyo.
Grace Joyce
Grace Joyce will compete in Team USA’s women’s quadruple sculls at the Paris Summer Olympics.
Regina Salmons
Regina Salmons competed for Team USA for years. She has also competed in rowing for the University of Pennsylvania.
Jessica Thoennes
Jessica Thoennes competed in Tokyo, and went on to win a silver at the 2023 World Championships. The bi athlete has since been in a relationship with a man.
Rugby 7s
Lauren Doyle
Paris will be Lauren Doyle’s third consecutive Olympics for the Eagles. She was part of the USA team that won silver at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Nicole Heavirland
After playing for Army, Heavirland has earned spots on the U.S. team at the last two Olympics, including Paris, and the 2022 World Cup.
Alev Kelter
Alev Kelter is a multi-sport superstar. She played soccer and ice hockey for the U.S. under-20 and under-18 teams, as well as for the University of Wisconsin. She’s been on the U.S. ruby sevens team for a decade.
Steph Rovetti
Stephanie Rovetti played basketball at BYU and didn’t start playing rugby until she was 24. She is the director of basketball operations for the University of San Diego basketball team.
Kris Thomas
Kristen Thomas has been with Team USA since 2015, winning a silver at the Pan American Games that year with some of their other current teammates.. They competed in rugby for the University of Central Florida.
Soccer
Tierna Davidson
Tierna Davidson won a bronze mead with the USWNT in Tokyo, after winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup. She played college football for Stanford, where she and her team won an NCAA title.
Track & Field
Nikki Hiltz, 1500 meter
Nikki Hiltz is on a roll. The trans and nonbinary athlete has emerged as the best 1500-meter runner in the United States. They’ll compete in their first Olympics, in Paris.
Sha’Carri Richardson, 100 meter and 4×100-meter relay
After Sha’Carri Richardson was removed from Team USA ahead of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago for a banned substance, she turned her attention to 2024. She’ll make her Olympic debut in Paris. She was Outsports’ 2023 Female Athlete of the Year.
Raven Saunders, shot put
Raven Saunders won a silver medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. On the medal stand, they drew attention with arms crossed in an X above their head. Saunders has been an advocate for mental health.
Nico Young, 10,000 meter
Earlier this year, Nico Young set the national college record for the 5,000-meter run. He qualified for the Paris Olympics in both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter, opting to focus on the latter. He’s the first out gay man in track and field to represent the United States at the Olympics.
Volleyball
Haleigh Washington
Haleigh Washington was part of the team that won the United States’ first women’s volleyball Olympic gold. Now the Penn State middle blocker is hoping for back-to-back gold.
Wrestling
Kayla Miracle
At the Tokyo Olympics, Kayla Miracle became the first publicly out wrestler to compete at an Olympic Games. Now in Paris, she hopes to win a medal for Team USA.
