Medal Quest - Out of Proportion?

The third Asia-Pacific Outgames begins in 20 days time in Darwin, Australia. It has always baffled me why Australia is such a major players in international sport. The country is one of the least densely populated areas in the world, yet people can name at least 2 famous Australian sportspeople. You can’t say that about the other areas of equal size and population density (Siberia and the Canadian Arctic).

The Pacific region has also produced quite a few of the world’s top lgbt athletes, some of whom have competed in the Outgames and Gay Games, and a lot of them are Olympians. There is a higher proportion of out professional lgbt athletes per capita from Australia than there is in any European country. Also a high proportion of them are gold medallists or champions.

Here is a list of the lgbt professional athletes of the Asia-Pacific region. I won’t include continental USA, though will include Hawai’i and other American Pacific islands. I had planned to list all the medals and championships each athlete has won, but the accumulated list runs into the hundreds and I don’t have room for them. This is testimony to the sheer excellence there is in the Asia-Pacific region in lgbt sport. Some athletes listed below were not Asia-Pacific-born but have become nationals of the countries.

Rather disappointingly, I’m restricted to just listing the name, country and sport of each athlete.

AUSTRALIA

Alyson Annan   -   field hockey

Mianne Bagger   -   golf

Jason Ball   -   Australian rules football

Hayley Bateup   -   ironwoman

Wade Bennett   -   water skiing, athletics

Raelene Boyle   -   athletics

Belle Brockhoff   -   snowboard

Natalie Cook   -   beach volleyball

Casey Dellacqua   -   tennis

Freda DuFaur   -   mountaineering

Michelle Ferris   -   cycling

Mathew Helm   -   diving

Gus Johnston   -   field hockey

Daniel Kowalski   -   swimming

Hana Mandlikova   -   tennis

Matthew Mitcham   -   diving

Michelle Reeves   -   athletics

Ian Roberts   -   rugby league

Craig Rogerson   -   diving

Rennae Stubbs   -   tennis

Lisa-Marie Vizaniari   -   discus

Ji Wallace   -   trampoline

Sarah Walsh   -   soccer

Peter Wherrett   -   motor racing

NEW ZEALAND

Simon Latimer   -   diving

Paul O’Brien   -   equestrianism

Blake Skjellerup   -   speed skating

Blyth Tait   -   equestrianism

Peter Tayler   -   equestrianism

Louisa Wall   -   rugby union

HAWAI’I AND SAMOA

Natasha Kai   -   soccer

Greg Louganis   -   diving (Samoan father)

Jaiyah Saelua   -   soccer

Esera Tualo   -   American football

TONGA

Amini Fonua   -   swimming

JAPAN

Hiromasa Ando   -   speedboat racing

THAILAND

Parinya Charoenphol   -   Thai boxing