More than two dozen out LGBTQ athletes are on the world stage in Beijing this month to compete in the Winter Olympics.
There are 35 out athletes in the Winter Olympic Games, according to a list compiled by Outsports.com and LGBTQ historian Tony Scupham-Bilton. The total number of out athletes has grown significantly from just 15 individuals in 2018, and LGBTQ male representation has sharply risen from four to 11. Prior to 2018, there were no out male athletes in the Winter Olympics.
The encouraging LGBTQ representation at the Winter Olympics follows a stunning display of queer visibility at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year. There were at least 186 out athletes in Tokyo — including out trans weightlifter Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand and non-binary soccer player Quinn of Canada.
More of the out athletes in the Winter Olympics are participating in hockey (12) than any other sport, followed by figure skating, which has 10 out participants. Canada is leading the way with 10 out athletes in total. The out LGBTQ ice hockey players are all women.
Notably, there is one non-binary athlete, Timothy LeDuc of the USA. LeDuc is a pair skater alongside Ashley Cain-Gribble — and the duo won a national title at the 2022 US Championships.
In addition to Timothy LeDuc, there are five other out athletes representing the United States: Figure skaters Jason Brown and Amber Glenn; ice hockey player Alex Carpenter; skeleton player Andrew Blaser; and speedskater Brittany Bowe.
Other countries represented by out athletes include Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
The Olympics will conclude on February 22. Visit NBCSports.com to see the full schedule of events.
