Sports
Phoenix Mercury to ‘prioritize safety’ after Griner confronted at Texas airport
WNBA team to play Washington Mystics on Sunday
Brittney Griner and her Mercury teammates will hit the hardwood in Phoenix tonight for their first home game since being harassed by a right-wing extremist at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
Whether they win or lose to the Seattle Storm, coach Vanessa Nygaard is promising the team “will be making adjustments that maybe should have happened before,” regarding their safety on the road.
How specifically Nygaard and the team plan to do that before the Mercury travel to D.C. for Sunday night’s matchup with the Mystics, she didn’t say. “Right now, we’re going to prioritize the safety of our players,” the coach said, according to ESPN.
On Saturday, Blaze Media YouTuber Alex Stein posted video of himself shouting at Griner in the Texas airport. Among his taunts: “Do you still want to boycott America, Brittney?” “She hates America” and “What about the merchant of death, Brit?”
Mercury forward Brianna Turner tweeted that Stein followed the team as they made their way to their commercial flight to Indiana, the day after losing to the Dallas Wings. Stein was recorded used his cellphone camera to record them as he made what Turner called “wild remarks.” At one point, Turner tweeted that the Mercury players “nervously huddled in a corner” of the airport, contemplating how to move from their location without being further harassed.
Player safety while traveling should be at the forefront. People following with cameras saying wild remarks is never acceptable. Excessive harassment. Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.
— Brianna Turner (@_Breezy_Briii) June 10, 2023
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association is calling on the league to immediately change their travel protocols, which prevent teams that can afford to charter flights from doing it so as not to create a competitive advantage.
In a statement, the league said Griner has been approved to fly charter for WNBA games. Phoenix has not explained why she was not doing so Saturday, ESPN reported.
Russian authorities released Griner from a gulag in December, almost 10 months after the out lesbian was detained at a Moscow airport on drug charges. The Biden administration made a prisoner swap with the Russians that conservatives have condemned because it involved a notorious arms dealer. Ever since winning her freedom, Griner has become a staunch advocate for Americans unjustly imprisoned in Russia and around the world.
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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