2024 Paralympics features record breaking openly LGBTQ+ athletes
August 29, 2024Outsports has found that there will be at least a record 38 publicly out athletes—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer—competing in the Paris Summer Paralympics.
In recent weeks, ‘Outsports’ has collaborated with current and former Paralympians, fans, and journalists to identify those who are publicly out at the Paris Paralympics. The list is not exhaustive and will continue to expand in the coming days and weeks. In fact, it increased from 32 to 38 during the five hours this story was published. In 2021, there were 36 out Paralympians in Tokyo, and a dozen competed in Rio in 2016. The rising numbers over the last two Games indicate that more athletes are coming out as LGBTQ+, many via social media.
Image Credit: Canva
Mar Gunnarsson, a swimmer from Iceland, exemplifies this new wave of out athletes. He shared his experience of being gay after the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, stating, “the news went viral here and the amount of support I felt from the Icelandic nation was amazing.”
For U.S.A. para triathlete Hailey Danz, coming out was challenging, but she has triumphed over it. “For a long time, I didn’t feel pride in being gay,” she expressed in an essay for Team USA in 2022. “On the contrary, the primary emotion I felt was shame.”
Brazilian para judoka Alana Maldonado is leveraging her platform as a champion to promote awareness about the Games.
“Yes, there is a lot of prejudice against women in sports in general, especially in Paralympic sports. I think this inequality of recognition persists, and my Paralympic medal would not carry the same weight as a traditional Olympic medal,” Maldonado told Historica earlier this year. “I still feel this difference, unfortunately.
“Today, the female Paralympic athlete increasingly shows strength and ability to achieve her dreams, objectives and significant results … we are increasingly fighting for this space and recognition, and we have been succeeding.”
Australian wheelchair sprinter Robyn Lambird, who competed in 2021, provided an insightful explanation of how athletes are classified at the Paralympics: “Each Paralympic sport has its own system of classification, which helps to ensure fair and equal competition. Athletes are classified depending on the amount of impact their impairment has on their sporting performance.”
The Games, running from August 28 through September 8, will feature 4,400 athletes (including a record 1,983 women) competing in 22 sports and 549 medal events.
Read related myGwork articles here:
A Record Number Of Out Athletes Are Participating In The Paralympics
Robyn Lambird Becomes First Out Non-Binary Paralympic Medal Winner
Valentina Petrillo, Italian sprinter, will be the first out trans Paralympian
Keep up to date with the latest myGnews