Sports

Speedskater Irene Wüst becomes first LGBTQ Olympian to win a gold medal in Beijing

Dutch athlete is first Olympian to win an individual gold medal in 5 Winter Games and first out medalist in Beijing

Published

4 years ago

February 8, 2022

Irene Wüst via NBC Sports YouTube

If the 34 out LGBTQ Olympians had their own team at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, then Irene Wüst of the Netherlands would be its de facto leader. The Dutch athlete skated her way into the history books Monday with a record-setting finish in the 1,500-meter speedskating race: 1 minute 53.28 seconds, barely edging out the previous world record holder, Miho Takagi of Japan, by less than half a second.

Wüst, who is out as bisexual, is the first LGBTQ Olympian to win a gold medal in Beijing and the most decorated out Olympian ever.

Also, at 35, she is the world’s oldest gold medalist speedskater, the first Olympic athlete to win an individual gold medal in five Winter Games, and this sixth gold makes her the most decorated Olympic speedskater in history.

OLYMPIC CHAMPION!!! 🥇🧡🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/i7Z66o6B8g
— Ireen Wüst (@Ireenw) February 7, 2022

“This is just amazing,” Wüst told Reuters. “There’s a lot of different emotions going through my mind right now. I mean, it’s just bizarre that I was able to pull it off once again… I just have no words for it. There’s something magical that gets to me when it comes down to the Games. There’s something at the Games that brings out the best in me.”

This trip to China is her sixth Olympics, a journey that began when she won gold in the 3,000 meters and bronze in the 1,500 meters events in Turin in 2006.

“The first time is the easiest one to win,” Wüst told The New York Times. “Winning for the fifth time is the hardest.”

She’s now collected 12 medals in all, six of them gold, including those won in Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014 and Pyeongchang in 2018.

“Words can’t describe her class. I mean, she’s the greatest of all time as her performance shows,” out American Olympian Brittany Bowe told Reuters. Bowe was the only out LGBTQ athlete to be selected by any nation as a flag bearer for the opening ceremonies. “Another Olympic gold medal in Olympic record fashion. I’m honored to have competed against her for so many years and even more so to call her a friend.” Bowe finished 10^th.

Wüst told The Times she felt calm and had confidence after qualifying at home in the Netherlands, the world’s top speedskating nation. She said that feeling stayed with her through this week.

“When it’s really important, I can show something extra,” said Wüst. “And that’s the feeling I had when I woke up.”

With the victory over Miho Takagi of Japan, who took silver, she has surpassed the record held by famous Olympians Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter.

Making history “means a lot,” Wüst told reporters after the race, but reality hadn’t quite set in yet. “Ask me this question again in 10 days,” she joked. “I’m an emotional mess in my head.”

The Olympian did confirm speculation she plans to retire after this season. Come summer, after many delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wüst is engaged to marry her girlfriend, Letitia de Jong.

What’s next? Based on what she told The Times, she’s no longer focused on the time clock on the oval, but the biological clock.

“I always say age is just a number,” she said. “But I’m 35, and I really want to have children, so at some point you have to quit.”

Up Next

The NFL embraces LGBTQ+ inclusion ahead of Super Bowl LVI

Don't Miss

A Revolution for Women in Baseball

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Egypt

Iran, Egypt play in World Cup ‘Pride Match’

FIFA allowed Pride flags inside Seattle stadium

Published

4 weeks ago

June 28, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

(Screen capture via KOMO News/YouTube)

Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.

Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.

Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”

Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.

FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.

“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”

Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.

“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”

“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”

Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.

“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.

Out & About

Orioles take on Nats for Pride Night

First 15,000 fans to receive exclusive jersey

Published

4 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Tinashe Chingarande

The Baltimore Orioles take on the Nats for Pride night on Friday. (Photo courtesy the Orioles)

The Baltimore Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. for Pride Night at Oriole Park.

The first 15,000 fans will receive an exclusive Pride Night Orioles jersey. The Washington Blade is a media sponsor of this event.

To purchase tickets, visit Orioles.com/Tickets.

Sports

Minor league team in York, Pa., forfeits Pride Night game after some players refuse to wear special jersey

City is roughly 20 miles north of Md. border

Published

1 month ago

June 19, 2026

Baltimore Banner

The Orioles handed out Pride-themed jerseys for the first 15,000 fans who arrived to Camden Yards as the Baltimore Orioles played the Texas Rangers at Orioles Park in Baltimore during Pride Night on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Liana Handler of the Baltimore Banner)

An independent minor league baseball team says it is forfeiting a game because some of its players refused to wear a special Pride Night jersey.

The Atlantic League Pro Baseball’s York Revolution were planning to hold their 11th annual Pride Night event Thursday for a game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

But the Revolution announced the day of the game that it wouldn’t be played. York is about 20 miles north of the Maryland line. The Blue Crabs play in Waldorf.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.