Freedom in Speech

Written by Courtesy of Pink News Monday, 13 August 2012 11:36

Ten openly LGBT Olympians have taken home Gold from the London 2012 summer games. Were they a team, they would have tied with Mexico and Ethiopia in total medals. Over a third of all out LGBT athletes won a medal, beating off the USA team.

Cyd Ziegler, founder of outsports.com said: “If ‘Team Gay’ was a country, it would have finished 31st overall with seven medals, tied with Mexico, Ethiopia and Georgia. They would have beaten the medal count of such countries as Jamaica, Ireland, Argentina and India. They would have finished 21st overall for most golds (four), tied with Iran, Jamaica, Czech Republic and Korea.”

Those who won Gold included: Seimone Augustus (US Women’s Basketball); Carl Hester (GB, Equestrian); the Dutch women’s hockey team and Megan Rapinoe (USA, Women’s Soccer). Judith Arnt took Silver for Germany in cycling and  Bronze winners were Edward Gal (Netherlands, Equestrian) and Lisa Raymond (USA, Tennis).

Gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, who had previously been adamant that London 2012 would be his final Olympics, has since changed his mind after coming 13th in the diving semi-finals, and has declared his intent to participate at the games in Rio 2016.

According to outsports.com “A whopping 58 per cent of all openly gay, lesbian or intersex Olympians have won medals over the years, which is an incredible statistic.”

There has been an argument over the years that LGBT athletes should not come out publicly because of how it may affect team morale and collective performance. Megan Rapinoe, however, came out publicly mere weeks before the Olympics and went on to win Gold for her team with a key pass; she also scored two major goals in the semi-finals. Seimone Augustus also came out publicly earlier this year, and brought her team the same successful result.