Sports
Quinn becomes first trans, non-binary Olympic gold medalist
“I’m getting messages from young people saying they’ve never seen a trans person in sports”
TOKYO – Quinn became the first openly transgender, non-binary athlete to win an Olympic gold medal on Friday in another trailblazing moment at the Tokyo Olympic Games for the marginalised LGBTQ+ community.
The 25-year-old, who goes by a single name and uses the pronouns “they” and “their,” started the gold-medal soccer match playing on the Canadian women’s soccer team against Sweden’s, which saw a win cinched by the Canadians following a dramatic penalty shootout.
Debuting in 2014 and winning bronze at the 2016 Rio Games playing for the Canadian team, Quinn only came out publicly as transgender and nonbinary in a September 2020 Instagram post but said they identified that way in private for a longer duration.
“I wanted to be my authentic self in all spheres of my life and one of those is being in a public space,” Quinn said at the time. “So that was one of the reasons behind it, because I was tired of being misgendered and everything like that.”
Quinn, who plays with the Seattle-based OL Reign in the US National Women’s Soccer League, has also not faced obstacles and controversy about their presence on the Canadian women’s team, in part because those athletes who transition from female to male do not attract the same scrutiny because they are not considered to have the inherent physical advantages of those born male.
“I am considered maybe one of the most digestible versions of what it means to be trans,” the Quinn told the OL Reign club website in an interview last year on National Coming Out Day. “I’m white, I’m trans-masculine. I want my story to be told because when we have lots of trans visibility that’s where we start making a movement and start making gains in society.”
This year’s Tokyo Olympics has seen increased visibility for LGBTQ athletes. “(I’m) getting messages from young people saying they’ve never seen a trans person in sports before,” Quinn told the CBC after Canada beat Team USA’s Women’s Soccer 1-0 to make the final.
“Athletics is the most exciting part of my life…. If I can allow kids to play the sports they love, that’s my legacy and that’s what I’m here for,” they said.
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.
Sports
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry strike a pose in memorable Olympics performance
Madonna’s presence is being felt at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Guillaume Cizeron and his rhythm ice dancing partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France performed a flawless skate to Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Rescue Me” on Monday.
The duo scored an impressive 90.18 for their effort, the best score of the night.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season to get over 90, so it was nice to see the score on the screen,” Fournier Beaudry told Olympics.com. “But first of all, just coming out off the ice, we were very happy about what we delivered and the pleasure we had out there. With the energy of the crowd, it was really amazing.”
Watch the routine on YouTube here.
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