Athlete embraced being gay and is now heading to the world track and field championships
Talking exclusively to Outsports, British 400-meter hurdler Seamus Derbyshire says embracing his flamboyant side has helped him qualify for Tokyo. The post Athlete embraced being gay and is now heading to the world track and field championships appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
When Seamus Derbyshire lines up for the 400-meter hurdles heats at next month’s World Athletics Championships, he’ll be sure to show some love to the TV camera as it pans across the start line.
The 25-year-old has every reason to enjoy the moment at Tokyo’s National Stadium, where he will be making his Worlds debut as part of Team GB.
Derbyshire believes that if he hadn’t made the decision to bring his whole personality to the track, encompassing his pride as an out gay man, he wouldn’t have unlocked his peak performance.
Now filled with confidence, his charisma shines through when he introduces himself to the crowd.
“The person that you see on that start line is the person that hangs out with my friends in the evenings and with my family on weekends,” he tells Outsports.
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“Before, it felt like me as an athlete was a completely separate identity. Now there’s only one me, and I can just go and run fast for 48 seconds.”
(@seamusderbs)Derbyshire has been clearing the hurdles and delivering the times consistently this season.
In June, he set a personal best of 48.42 seconds at a meeting in Geneva, just inside the World Championships qualifying standard of 48.50 seconds.
That PB means he’s the sixth-fastest Brit of all time in his chosen event. Having finished third at UK nationals earlier this month, he’s now been confirmed in the British team.
Two TikTok videos from nationals — one showing his self-described “flamboyant” side in front of the camera, the other a post-race interview in which he talked about being queer — continue to pick up traction online.
@powerof10.uk “I am queer, I’m proud of my identity and I want to share that with the track world” @seamus opens up about why he shares his personality with the world #running #athletics #britishathletics #trackandfield #trackandfieldtiktoks ♬ original sound – powerof10.uk
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Derbyshire says he takes the interest as a compliment and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
The algorithm wasn’t perfect, however. “One of the videos did reach the wrong sort of audience, which was eye-opening to me because everyone in my life has always been very accepting,” he said.
“It shows how homophobia still exists, but in some ways, it makes me want to be myself even more.
“Some people will see those comments and believe they’re true, that they don’t deserve something just because of their sexuality.
“So if I can be an inspiration to even one person, to show them how there’s nothing wrong with you, that’s a bit of a privilege.”
Seamus Derbyshire proud of his queer and feminine traits
Last year, Derbyshire, who studied at the sports-renowned Loughborough University and runs for his local City of Stoke club, stopped competing.
Having been a track athlete since his teens (he ranks the Commonwealth Youth Games silver medal he won at the age of 17 as one of his greatest achievements), he found the enjoyment of chasing his dream was ebbing away.
“I felt like I was constantly fighting a losing battle,” he explains. “That brought me a lot of anxiety, which was a shame because I was in very good physical condition.
“So in July, I decided I needed to break the habits of going to the track so often.”
The separation period helped him to realize that while he did miss competing, he needed to make changes.
“I brought in a new coach and went from training in a group to training on my own, which allowed me to get a more representative version of myself.
“I also found confidence from within, rather than having to rely on my coaches or my peers.
“It all links back to me just enjoying myself, and I know that without that enjoyment, none of what’s happened this year would have happened.”
Derbyshire says he knew he was gay at a young age and had a complicated relationship with sport, which will be familiar to many Outsports readers.
He started in gymnastics before switching to athletics and found boys’ sports to be mostly “hypermasculine, high testosterone” spaces.
“That competitive energy didn’t always go hand in hand with my more queer and more feminine traits, which I’m very proud of nowadays.”
His parents were always supportive, as were the friendship groups he formed at school and university.
With no need for any sort of coming-out post on social media, that post-race chat at nationals was the first time he’d spoken in an interview about being queer.
He selects that word as the one that suits him best, but he inhabits his identity as a gay man as well.
Being part of growing representation in men’s track, alongside U.S. athletes such as Nico Young, Yared Nuguse and Trey Cunningham, is a point of pride.
“We’re all very individual, all unique, and we all show that queerness is not expressed in one sort of way.
“Having more athletes like us who are happy to be visible and happy to be known as queer, can hopefully continue to pave the way for track to be a super-accepting space.
“Maybe we can be an example for other sports, too. That would be really nice.”
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The post Athlete embraced being gay and is now heading to the world track and field championships appeared first on Outsports.
