Medal Quest : Winter Olympians

Eagerly anticipating tonight’s (or this afternoon’s, in my case) spectacular opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics I present my most up-to-date list of lgbt Winter Olympians. Not all of these were openly out when they competed.

Perhaps the best way to present the list is alphabetically. Of course, over time this list will become out of date as more athletes are identified. The list gives name, country, sport, and Olympic year/s.

Anonymous (not “out”); USA; biathlon; 2006

Geert Blanchart; Belgium; speed skating; 1992, 1994

Brian Boitano; USA; figure skating; 1984, 1988, 1994

Anastasia Bucsis; Canada; speed skating; 2010

Jeff Buttle; Canada; figure skating; 2006

Caitlin Cahow; USA; ice hockey; 2006, 2010

Toller Cranston; Canada; figure skating; 1972, 1976

John Curry (1949-1994); GB; figure skating; 1972, 1976

Nancy Drolet; Canada; ice hockey; 1998

Randy Gardner; USA; figure skating; 1976, 1980

Renate Groenewold; Netherlands; speed skating; 2002, 2006, 2010

Joan Guetschow; USA; biathlon; 1992, 1994

Edel Høiseth; Norway; speed skating; 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998

Erika Holst; Sweden; ice hockey; 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010

Barbara Jezeršek; Slovenia; cross-country skiing; 2010

Stine Brun Kjeldaas; Norway; snowboard; 1998, 2002

Ylva Lindberg; Sweden; ice hockey; 1998, 2002, 2006

Cheryl Maas; Netherlands; snowboard; 2006

Rob McCall (1958-1991); Canada; figure skating; 1984, 1988

Ondrej Nepela (1951-1989); Czechoslovakia; figure skating; 1964, 1968, 1972

Ryan O’Meara; USA; figure skating; 2006

Brian Orser; Canada; figure skating; 1984, 1998

Anja Pärson; Sweden; skiing; 2002, 2006, 2010

Brian Pockar (1959-1992); Canada; figure skating; 1980

Ronnie Robertson (1937-2000); USA; figure skating; 1956

Emanuel Sandhu; Canada; figure skating; 2002, 2006

Matt Savoie; USA; figure skating; 2006

Blake Skjellerup; New Zealand; speed skating; 2010

Vibeke Skofterud; Norway; cross-country skiing; 2002, 2010

Sarah Vaillancourt; Canada; ice hockey; 2006, 2010

Sanne van Kerkhof; Netherlands; speed skating; 2010

Johnny Weir; USA; figure skating; 2006, 2010

Marieke Wijsman; Netherlands; speed skating; 1998, 2002

Christine Witty; USA; speed skating; 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006

Ireen Wüst; Netherlands; speed skating; 2006, 2010

The run-up to the Sochi games has been accompanied by protests and controversy around Russia’s anti-gay legislation. No doubt this may have put some lgbt athletes off coming out, as is understandable considering there’ll be more attention on them than there would be if they came out at a “regular” Olympic Games.

This hasn’t stopped various national Olympic committees from appointing openly lgbt members in official delegations. The most high profile of these are members of the USA delegation – Billie Jean King, Caitlin Cahow, and Brian Boitano (who came out officially when he was appointed), all of them with previous Olympic experience either as an athlete or coach. Even the decision to include them has been criticised by some as a deliberate act of protest.

If history is anything to go by, I doubt if any protest or boycott at Sochi will make any difference. They haven’t worked in the past. But let’s not take up too much space with my opinions. Let’s celebrate the right of lgbt athletes to compete without discrimination in the sport and list the known lgbt athletes competing over the next couple of weeks in Sochi;

Belle Brockhoff, Australia, snowboard

Anastasia Bucsis, Canada, speed skating

Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Austria, ski jump

Barbara Jezeršek, Slovenia, cross country skiing

Cheryl Maas, Netherlands, snowboard

Sanne van Kerkhof, Netherlands, short track speed skating

Ireen Wüst, Netherlands, speed skating