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.