Olympian Stats

Following the publication of my list of LGBT Olympians last week several people have pointed out an error with one of the names. That name has been removed. However, a new name was suggested, which I’ve checked, and have added in its place.


Here are some facts and figures which may not be apparent from the new list. These statistics do not include the reserve/alternate Olympians or Paralympians.

131 athletes in the women’s competitions

73 athletes in the men’s competitions
160 athletes at the summer games
44 athletes at the winter games
1 entrant in the art competition

Earliest identified lgbt athletes - Summer

Amsterdam 1928 : Otto Peltzer, Germany (athletics), and Renée Sintenis, Germany (sculpture)

Earliest identified lgbt athlete - Winter

Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 : Ronnie Robertson, USA (figure skating)

Earliest identified “out” lgbt athlete at the Games

Amsterdam 1928 : Renée Sintenis, Germany (sculpture)
Innsbruck 1976 : John Curry, GB (figure skating), outed by media after winning gold, he never denied it
Seoul 1988 : Robert Dover, USA, equestrianism (the first to compete as an out athlete)

Top 3 Summer Olympics with the most lgbt athletes (including those who were not openly lgbt at the time)

50 - Sydney 2000
45 - Beijing 2008
44 - London 2012

Top 3 Winter Olympics with the most lgbt athletes (including those who were not openly lgbt at the time)

18 - Turin 2006
15 - Vancouver 2010
12 - Sochi 2014

The Olympics with the most medals won by lgbt athletes

Summer : 22 medals won by 18 athletes – Athens 2004 (8 gold, 9 silver, 5 bronze)
Winter : 14 medals won by 11 athletes – Turin 2006 (5 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze)

The Olympics with the most lgbt gold medal champions

Sydney 2000 - 11 medals won by 10 champions
London 2012 - 9 medals won by 9 champions

Top 3 Olympic sports with lgbt athletes

28 – football (26 of them women)
22 - track and field athletics
18 - figure skating (all men)

Top 3 lgbt Olympians with the most medals

9 - Ian Thorpe, Australia, swimming (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
8 - Ireen Wüst, Netherlands, speed skating (4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
7 - Karin Büttner-Janz, Germany, gymnastics (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)

Top 4 lgbt Olympians with the most gold medals

5 - Ian Thorpe, Australia, swimming
4 - Greg Louganis, USA, diving
4 - Ireen Wüst, Netherlands, speed skating
4 - Jayna Hefford, Canada, ice hockey

Lgbt Olympian who have competed in the most games

6 - Robert Dover, USA, equestrianism (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)

The 3 youngest lgbt Olympians

13 years old - Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia, figure skating (Innsbruck 1964)
14 years old - Tom Daley, GB, diving (Beijing 2008)
15 years old - Marian Lay, Canada, swimming (Tokyo 1964)

The 3 oldest lgbt Olympians

48 years - Robert Dover, USA, equestrianism (Athens 2004)
47 years - Martina Navratilova, USA, tennis (Athens 2004)
47 years - Karen Hultzer, Germany, archery (London 2012)

The 3 youngest lgbt medal winners

16 years - Greg Louganis, USA, diving (1 silver : Montreal 1976)
16 years - Karin Büttner-Janz, E. Germany, gymnastics (1 silver, 1 bronze : Mexico City 1968)
17 years - Ian Thorpe, Australia, swimming (3 gold, 2 silver : Sydney 2000)
[[17 years - Ewa Kłobukowska, Poland, athletics (1 gold, 1 bronze : Tokyo 1964) The first Olympian to fail the gender test and stripped of her medals. The test is now discredited but her medals have not been reinstated]

The 3 oldest lgbt medal winners

48 years - Robert Dover, USA, equestrianism (1 bronze : Athens 2004)
45 years - Carl Hester, GB, equestrianism (1 gold : London 2012)
44 years - Robert Dover, USA, equestrianism (1 bronze : Sydney 2000)

The most medals won at one games by one lgbt athlete

5 (3 gold, 2 silver) - Ian Thorpe, Australia, swimming (Sydney 2000)
5 (2 gold, 3 silver) - Ireen Wüst, Netherlands, speed skating (Sochi 2014)
5 (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) - Karin Büttner-Janz, E. Germany, gymnastics (Munich 1972)

Only lgbt athlete to compete in both Summer and Winter Olympics

Christine Witty (USA)
Winter Olympics : speed skating - 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
Summer Olympics : cycling – 2000

Top 4 countries with the most lgbt Olympians

46 - USA
28 - Canada
18 - Netherlands
18 - Germany (incl. East and West)