Sports
Tri, tri again
Frank training for gold at Gay Game
Bryan Frank competing at the Black Bear Triathlon on June 1 where he took second place behind a professional triathlete. (Photo courtesy Rose Physical Therapy)
Imagine yourself racing down a steep hill into a hairpin turn at top speed on your bike only to have your back tire fishtail out resulting in a 15-foot skid on the pavement.
Consider yourself jumping off a barge to race in waters that are 55 degrees, inhabited by 11 types of sharks and filled with currents that can sweep you completely off course.
Those are just a few of the obstacles that Bryan Frank has faced in his years as a triathlete. A member of the D.C. Triathlon Club and its LGBT offshoot, TriOut, Frank will compete in the 2014 Cleveland Gay Games in August.
Growing up in Dallas, Frank competed in swimming through his high school years and always felt better suited for an individual sport.
“I was horrible at team sports,” Frank says. “I seemed to excel when I was only reliant on myself.”
He left sports behind while attending Trinity University in San Antonio and became a self-professed bookworm. His work in biological research brought him to D.C where in 2008, he stumbled upon the club. A friend asked him to accompany her to an information meeting. His only exercise to that point had been recreational mountain biking.
Frank ended up joining the club and in his first race at the New Jersey State Triathlon, he placed third in the novice division. That feat was accomplished on the aforementioned mountain bike and he was officially smitten with the sport.
Now 39, Frank has competed in all triathlon distances, including several Ironman events and multiple running races including a recent finish at the Boston Marathon. He is checking off time goals on a regular basis having dipped below the three hour mark in the marathon last November and is now aiming to get below two hours in the Olympic length triathlon (he has been 2:07).
His schedule has been to race in about 10 competitions per year since 2009 and he has traveled to events all over the United States as well as one trip abroad to Ironman Austria. As with many triathletes, he dreams of one day qualifying for the mother of all triathlons, the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Along with training with weights for strength and yoga for flexibility, Frank is putting in six days a week of training in the three disciplines of triathlon. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he is doing two daily workouts.
All the discipline and great race results have led to two sponsorship agreements for Frank. He’s a member of the Snapple Triathlon Elite Team and is also sponsored by Rose Physical Therapy in Washington.
The sponsorship with Snapple consists of gear donations and the relationship with Rose Physical Therapy has helped him gain knowledge to avoid injuries with owner Claire Bowe providing him with Active Release Therapy.
So what is it about Bryan Frank that led to the sponsorships considering there are close to 2,000 athletes in the D.C. Triathlon Club?
According to Damon Bowe, director of business development at Rose Physical Therapy, “We actually approached Bryan on our own. We use a personal approach in our patient care, maintaining an organic and grassroots quality. We liked the leadership skills that Bryan possesses and could bring to our team.”
Those skills include having served as lead program manager for the New Triathlete Program at the club from 2010-2012 and currently serving as director of programs. Last weekend, Frank volunteered at the Just Tryan It Kids Triathlon in Bethesda.
He says he has no idea what to expect at the Gay Games this summer though he admitted to looking at the times from the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne and has set his sights on a gold medal in the Olympic-length triathlon. He may also compete in the individual time trial in cycling.
“For all the progress that I have made, there are still humbling moments,” he says. “Sometimes when I try to stop at an intersection while I am clipped into the pedals of my bike, I just fall over. There’s an old saying that goes, ‘You fall and then you fall again.”
There is a pretty good chance that Bryan Frank will be standing tall this summer with a medal around his neck in Cleveland.
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
JD Vance to travel to Hungary next week
Pam Bondi ousted as attorney general
VIDEO: Gay journalist detained for booing Trumps at ‘Chicago’ opening night
Idaho Gov. signs harshest anti-trans bathroom bill in the country
‘Out for McDuffie’ event held at D.C. gay bar
‘Jonah’ an undeniably compelling but unusual memory play
The Oscar-losing performance that’s too good to miss
Thousands attend ‘No Kings’ protests in D.C.
