13 LGBTQ Olympic Athletes You Should Know About
It’s official: the 2021 Tokyo Games have made history with the most LGBTQ Olympic athletes ever to compete. A record number, 161 queer athletes are competing in Japan, nearly tripling the 2016 Rio de Janeiro tally. But, with so many LGBTQ icons, how are you supposed to know whom to wave your rainbow flag for? Lucky you, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of queer Team USA athletes you should be fangirling over—big time.
Notably missing from our list are powerhouses Sha’Carri Richardson and Cece Tefler from the USA Track and Field team. Both LGBTQ athletes were disqualified ahead of the games, Richardson for a positive cannabis drug test, and Tefler for supposedly not meeting the requirements for trans female athletes. We’re devastated that these incredible women won’t be allowed to compete at the Games, and hope that the Olympics will reevaluate their cannabis policies and transgender regulations going forward.
But, without further ado, here are some of the greatest LGBTQ athletes in the world that will be representing the US at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics!
Track and Field
Starting off strong, the USA Track and Field team has two queer rockstars bearing the stars and stripes at this year’s Games. Raven “Hulk” Saunders rose to fame in a viral video from her Olympic Trials. Sporting a fresh green buzzcut and grinning Incredible Hulk face mask, Saunders clinched her Team USA spot with a personal best throw of 19.96 m. “Let’s go! Let’s go!” she screamed, pressing her face into a television camera.
Saunders has been out as a Black, queer woman since her freshman year of high school, and says she “refuses to let her identity as a Black, queer woman become a source of shame.” She’s also incredibly open with her fans online about her struggles with mental health and suicidal ideation. She’s a rising star, and we can’t wait to cheer her on.
THIS.
In the women's shot put final, @GiveMe1Shot throws a personal best, breaks the meet record and her reaction is EVERYTHING all while wearing a Hulk mask.@usatf | #TokyoOlympics x #TrackFieldTrials21
???? NBCSN/@peacockTV pic.twitter.com/dMp2jQO6D4
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) June 25, 2021
Fellow queer track and field athlete Erica Bougard will be competing in what I believe must be one of the hardest events at the Olympics: the Heptathlon. Yes, HEPT—as in seven different sports all tied into one: the high jump, shot put, javelin throw, 200-meter dash, long jump, 100-meter hurdles, and 800-meter race. Impressive as all hell, to say the least.
Bougard gained notoriety during the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Qatar, a nation where same-gender activity is still criminalized. In her event, Bougard sported her favorite pair of shoes: crisp, white Nikes with a giant Pride rainbow across the top. Since then, Bougard has continued to be a vocal LGBTQ athlete.
one year out!!
#2021 pic.twitter.com/HnzcXLNXX8— Erica Bougard (@_Bougardd) July 23, 2020
Basketball
The USA Basketball team is … gay. Very gay. But let’s start with Chelsea Gray. A three-time WNBA All Star, Gray is a standout on the team, but her road to the Olympics was rocky to say the least. In 2016, Gray suffered two severe injuries that threatened to end her athletic career, but she wasn’t done fighting. After grueling therapy and training, Gray is back in the game, signed to the Las Vegas Aces and now playing for Team USA. In 2019, she married Tipsea Moorer, sharing stunning pictures from the wedding on Instagram.
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Breanna Stewart will also be representing Team USA on the basketball court. Named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsperson of the Year” in 2020 alongside icons like Lebron James, Naomi Osaka, Patrick Mahomes and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Stewart hopes to build on her record winning streaks at this year’s Games. In college at the University of Connecticut, Stewart led the team to four consecutive straight national championships, then brought her success to the Seattle Storm team. In May of this year, Stewart popped the big question to her partner Marta Xargay, captioning the proposal post on Instagram: “Did a thing. Another ring. She said YES.”
All eyes on 2021 #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/uHP3t1etc4
— Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) January 5, 2021
Brittany Griner, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi will also be competing on the team as out and proud athletes. They hope to bring home the seventh-consecutive gold medal for USA Women’s Basketball.
Soccer
The USA Women’s soccer team is notoriously queer, and this year’s is no exception. Goalkeeper Adriana Franch is a dominating force, setting records left and right. In college at Oklahoma State, she totaled 36 shutouts, the 6th most in NCAA history. Franch is also the only player to win National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Goalkeeper of the Year two years in a row: 2017 and 2018. Franch also had the distinct honor of playing in (and wining) the queerest World Cup ever in 2019 with iconic teammates Megan Rapinoe, Ali Krieger, and Ashlyn Harris.
Psst, guess what…!! ☺???? pic.twitter.com/DiEv6pp9IA
— . (@ADizzle23) May 2, 2019
Tierna Davidson and Kelly O’Hara will play alongside Franch out on the field. Davidson has been very opening talking about her queer identity with the media, and O’Hara famously gave a passionate kiss to her girlfriend in the stands after winning the 2019 World Cup.
Wrestling
Kayla Miracle is not only the first lesbian competitor in Olympic Women’s Wrestling, but the first out athlete for any Olympic wrestling EVER, male or female. A four-time Women’s Collegiate Wrestling College National champion, Miracle is beyond excited to be representing her country and her queer community on the world stage. Miracle took up wrestling at only 4 years old, before women’s wrestling was even an Olympic event! Now, the 25-year-old is ready to shatter records and continue pushing for more representation in her sport.
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Skateboarding
Alright guys, keep it together, because next we have the queer women of the USA Skateboarding team. Alexis Sablone is a multitalented skater holding a Master’s degree in architecture from MIT and working as an artist and designer. She’s earned seven X Games medals and is the sole pro-female skater on several brand teams. She’s sure to shred the house down in Tokyo.
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Sablone’s fellow queer teammate, Alana Smith, has been kicking ass in the skateboarding world for almost a decade. In 2012, they became the youngest X Games medalist in history, earning a silver at only 12 years old. Shortly after this stunning feat, Smith also became the first person in the women’s competition to land the lucrative “McTwist” trick. Smith identities as bisexual and uses they/them pronouns, frequently pushing the boundaries of gender in the world of sports. We’re so excited to watch Sablone and Smith represent the first USA Skateboarding team in Olympic history!
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