The Olympians have done it again—have they achieved incredible, almost superhuman athletic feats? Yes. But more importantly, they did so while simultaneously breaking representation barriers.
In light of the recent news that skater Timothy Leduc was the first openly nonbinary athlete to compete in the Olympics, sports fans and viewers everywhere were equally as excited to watch the medals stack up for fellow members of the LGBTQ community.
The first known, out LGBTQ athlete to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics was the Netherlands’ speed skater Ireen Wüst, who also decided that record break wasn’t quite enough for her. The out, bisexual competitor also became the first athlete in history to win individual gold medals in five straight Olympics.
And quickly following up with a gold medal himself is an athlete who Out Magazine refers to as the “legendary out” ice dancer: Guillaume Cizeron, representing France. Alongside longtime partner Gabriella Papadakis, Cizeron won gold in Beijing, following a line of successes at previous Olympics, including a silver medal in 2018 and becoming a four-time world champion, among other feats.
In Beijing, Papadakis and Cizeron not only broke their own rhythm dance world record but left the competition completely in the dust. The couple claimed 136.15 points for their free dance performance, bringing them to a total of 226.98—a score that shattered the other competitors’ and earned them a new personal best, too.
Cizeron, who publicly announced his sexuality in 2020 via an Instagram photo of him and his boyfriend, actually didn’t really see it as “coming out,” according to OutSports’ reporting on French publication, Têtu. The now-Olympic champion commented at the time saying, “I would not consider myself in the closet before posting this (photo), so I don’t really consider it coming out.” Still, having public confirmation of Cizeron being out amplifies the importance of his recent gold-medal win; seeing out athletes not just competing in the Olympics but clean-sweeping medals is a magnificent precedent for athletes everywhere—young or old, Olympic-level or not.
Photo courtesy of Guillaume Cizeron on Instagram
