Queer Athletes Shine at 2026 Winter Olympics

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are currently featuring nearly 50 openly queer athletes from various nations, with several having already secured medals in the opening weekend of events. These athletes hail from countries such as the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Belgium, Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, competing across a wide range of sports including speed skating, hockey, skiing, figure skating, and skeleton. The Games run from February 6 to February 22.

Here's a look at the queer medalists so far:

• Breezy Johnson (Team USA) - Gold: Bisexual freestyle skier Breezy Johnson, making her Olympic debut after missing the 2022 Games due to injury, won the gold medal in the women's downhill run.
  
• Amber Glenn (Team USA) - Gold: Pansexual figure skater Amber Glenn earned her first Olympic medal, a gold, as a member of Team USA's Figure Skating Team Event. She also represented the U.S. in the Women's Single Skating - Free Skating event.
  
• Mathilde Gremaud (Switzerland) - Gold: Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, competing in her third Olympics, claimed the gold medal in Women's Slopestyle. She previously won a silver in Slopestyle at the Pyeongchang Olympics and a bronze in Big Air and gold in Slopestyle at Beijing.
  
• Guillaume Cizeron (France) - Gold: Figure skater Guillaume Cizeron and his skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won the gold medal in ice dance. Cizeron, who also won gold in this event in 2022, has faced past accusations of being "controlling" and "demanding" from a former skating partner.
  
• Paul Poirier (Canada) - Bronze: Out figure skater Paul Poirier, in his fourth Olympic appearance and third with partner Piper Gilles, took home the bronze medal in ice dance.