Thursday 16 January 2020

Olympic Facts 2020


At the start of this Olympic year and while we’re halfway through the current Youth Winter Olympics I thought I’d share with you some of the facts and figures I’m compiling for a booklet which I hope to produce this summer called “2020 Queer facts”. This is a selection of the facts I’ve collected for a chapter on the Olympics.

The statistics below include athletes who were not openly lgbt when they competed. The trend in the 21st century has been for an increase in openly lgbt Olympians at successive games. It is virtually certain that Tokyo 2020 will be the first to have 100 or more openly lgbt athletes on the opening day

Athletes are placed in the official gender category in which they competed. Some of the facts may seem confusing as they are similar, but there are subtle differences.

HOW MANY LGBT OLYMPIANS?
Male - 115
Female - 265
Summer - 303
Winter - 77

TOTAL NUMBER OF LGBT ATHLETES AT THE OLYMPICS

summer
2016
Rio de Janeiro
104
summer
2012
London
85
summer
2008
Beijing
76
summer
2000
Sydney
68
summer
2004
Athens
51
summer
1996
Atlanta
47
winter
2014
Sochi
26
winter
2010
Vancouver
25
summer
1992
Barcelona
22
winter
2006
Turin
21
summer
1988
Seoul
20
winter
2018
PyeongChang
18
winter
2002
Salt Lake City
14
summer
1984
Los Angeles
13
summer
1976
Montréal
11
winter
1998
Nagano
9
winter
1988
Calgary
9
summer
1972
Munich
7
summer
1968
Mexico City
6
winter
1984
Sarajevo
6
winter
1994
Lillehammer
5
winter
1992
Albertville
5
summer
1932
Los Angeles
4
winter
1976
Innsbruck
4
summer
1928
Amsterdam
3
summer
1936
Berlin
3
summer
1964
Tokyo
3
summer
1956
Stockholm
3
winter
1980
Lake Placid
3
summer
2010
Singapore (Youth)
3
summer
1980
Moscow
2
summer
1960
Rome
2
winter
1968
Grenoble
2
summer
1912
Stockholm
1
summer
1948
London
1
summer
1952
Helsinki
1
summer
2014
Nanjing (Youth)
1
winter
1964
Innsbruck
1
winter
2012
Innsbruck (Youth)
1
winter
1956
Cortina d'Ampezzo
1
winter
1960
Squaw Valley
1
winter
1924
Chamonix
1

THE TOP 5 NATIONS WITH THE MOST LGBT OLYMPIANS
77 USA
47 Canada
30 Australia
25 Germany (including East and West when separated)
24 Great Britain and Northern Ireland
 
THE TOP 5 SPORTS WITH THE MOST LGBT OLYMPIANS
52 football
38 track and field athletics
32 figure skating
22 swimming
17 field hockey
 
THE FIRST LGBT OLYMPIAN (not openly lgbt during the games)
Danish tennis player Leif Rovsing (1887-1977). He competed in both men’s singles and doubles tennis at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He was the Danish men’s doubles champion between 1907 and 1916 and competed at Wimbledon in 1910. In 1917 Leif admitted his homosexuality, thus becoming THE FIRST OUT LGBT OLYMPIAN. The Danish Ball Games Union banned him from tennis for several years. More information is given here.

Niels Bukh (1880-1950) almost became the first lgbt Olympian. He was selected for the Danish gymnastics team at the 1908 London Olympics. However, shortly before the games he was deselected because the selection committee considered his physique was “think set” and didn’t fit with the overall look of the team. In effect he was deselected because he looked too butch! Bukh coached the Danish men’s gymnastics team to silver in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. As his homosexuality was well-known by the time this makes him the FIRST OPENLY LGBT OLYMPIC COACH OR TRAINER. He was included in my 2017 “Around the World in Another 80 Gays” series.

THE FIRST LGBT MALE OLYMPIAN – NON-SPORT (openly lgbt during the games)
South African poet Ernst van Heerden (1916-1997) won the silver medal for his work “Six Poems” at the 1948 London Olympics. He was openly gay throughout his life. Ernst was also a South African national weightlifting champion and qualified as a weightlifting judge. He was a judge in the weightlifting competition at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

THE FIRST LGBT MALE OLYMPIAN - SPORT (openly lgbt during the games)
The first lgbt Olympian who was openly gay before the opening ceremony of the games in which he competed was American equestrian dressage competitor Robert Dover (b.1956). He came out publicly as gay several weeks before his participation in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Technically, the first openly gay male Olympian during the games was British figure skater John Curry (1949-1994) at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. John was “outed” by local newspapers on 13th February 1976, the day after he won his gold medal, two days before the closing ceremony.

THE FIRST LGBT FEMALE OLYMPIAN (openly lgbt during the games)
Renée Sintenis (1888-1965). Her sculpture “Fütballspeiler” (Footballer) won the bronze medal at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, also making her the FIRST OPENLY LGBT OLYMPIC MEDALLIST (female).

THE FIRST FEMALE LGBT OLYMPIAN - SPORT
Austrian swimmer Friederike “Fritzi” Löwy (1910-1994) competed in the women’s 400 meters freestyle swimming event at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. She didn’t qualify for the final. Fritzi won a silver medal at the 1927 European Swimming Championships at the age of 16.

THE FIRST LGBT OLYMPIC MEDALLIST (non-competitive event)
British mountaineer George Mallory (1886-1924) was awarded a gold medal at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924, in a special category called Alpinism. This was in recognition of his participation in the failed attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1922. Gold medals for the rest of the expedition were presented during the Chamonix closing ceremony on 5th February 1924. By this time Mallory was on his way to make another attempt to climb Everest. He died on that expedition and never got to touch or see his gold medal. Mallory disappeared on that expedition and his body wasn’t found until 1999.

THE FIRST LGBT OLYMPIC MEDALLISTS (sport)
The first four Olympic sport medals won by lgbt athletes were all won by two athletes within 8 days of each other at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

MEDAL 1: On 31st July 1932 Mildred “Babe” Didrikson, later Mrs. Zaharias (1911-1956), won the gold medal in the women’s javelin contest, breaking the world record in the process.

MEDAL 2: On 2nd August 1932, Stanisława Walasiewicz, later known as Stella Walsh (1911-1980), competing for Poland, won the women’s 200 meters sprint.

MEDAL 3: On 4th August 1932 “Babe” Didrikson won a gold medal in the women’s 80 meters hurdles, breaking another world record.

MEDAL 4: On 7th August 1932 “Babe” won a silver medal in the women’s high jump. Her third jump equalled the world record set by the athlete who jumped just before her. However, the judges ruled that Babe’s jump was disallowed because it was performed head-first over the bar, an illegal move. The judges ruled that Babe should be awarded the silver medal, while recognising her third world record of the games.

THE TOP OLYMPIANS WITH THE MOST MEDALS

 
NAME
NATION
OLYMPICS
SPORT
G
S
B
1
Ireen Wüst
Netherlands
Winter
speed skating
5
5
1
2
Ian Thorpe
Australia
Summer
swimming
5
3
1
3
Greg Louganis
USA
Summer
diving
4
1
 
3
Jayna Hefford
Canada
Winter
ice hockey
4
1
 
5
Sue Bird
USA
Summer
basketball
4
 
 
5
Diana Taurasi
USA
Summer
basketball
4
 
 
5
Caroline Ouellette
Canada
Winter
ice hockey
4
 
 
8
Marnie McBean
Canada
Summer
rowing
3
1
 
9
Gillian Apps
Canada
Winter
ice hockey
3
 
 
9
Charline Labonté
Canada
Winter
ice hockey
3
 
 
9
Sheryl Swoopes
USA
Summer
basketball
3
 
 

                         
THE YOUNGEST LGBT OLYMPIANS (excluding the Youth Olympics)
Based on their age on the date of the opening ceremony of the games in which they competed.

13 years, 13 days – Ondrej Nepela (1951-1989) at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics.
14 years, 69 days – Tom Daley (b.1994) at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
15 years, 14 days – Marian Lay (b.1948) at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
15 years, 249 days – Laís Souza (b.1988) at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.

THE FIVE OLDEST LGBT OLYMPIANS
Based on their age on the date of the opening ceremony of the games in which they competed.

49 years, 37 days – Carl Hester (b.1967) at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.
48 years, 71 days – Robert Dover (b.1956) at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.
47 years, 315 days – Karen Hultzer (b.1965) at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
47 years, 300 days – Martina Navratilova (b.1956) at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.
46 years, 303 days – Hans Peter Minderhoud (b.1973) at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

LGBT OLYMPIAN WHO HAS COMPETED AT THE MOST GAMES
Robert Dover (b.1956) has competed in 6 successive Olympic Games. He also acted as Chef d’Equipe (equestrian team manager) at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

THE LGBT OLYMPIAN WHO HAS ATTENDED THE MOST GAMES (non-competitive)
George Morris (b.1938) has attended 7 Olympic Games as a member of an equestrian team, 6 times for Team USA. The first time was as a competitor in Rome 1960 where he won a silver medal. In 5 later Olympic Games he attended as Co-Chef de’Equipe (team manager). In 2016 he was coach to the Brazilian Olympic equestrian team.

LGBT OLYMPIANS WHO HAVE COMPETED AT BOTH THE SUMMER AND WINTER GAMES
Christine Witty (b.1975) competed for the USA in speed skating at the Winter Olympics of Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002 and Turin 2006. She also competed for the USA in cycling at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.

Georgia Simmerling (b.1989) competed for Canada in cycling at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics. She also competed in alpine skiing at 2010 Vancouver, and ski cross at 2014 Sochi. Georgia is also THE ONLY LGBT ATHLETE TO COMPETE IN THREE DIFFERENT SPORTS – alpine skiing, ski cross and cycling.

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