Gay athlete takes his final shot at an NCAA title this weekend
Kade McCall heads to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships for the last time, as an out gay athlete for Kansas State. The post Gay athlete takes his final shot at an NCAA title this weekend appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
Kade McCall is ready for his final indoor track & field meet. It’s a good one.
The thrower for the Kansas State Wildcats will compete in the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championships this weekend — nose ring, earring and all.
McCall is seeded 12th in the “weight throw” category — kind of like the hammer throw but indoor — with a season-best and personal-best throw of 22.63 meters (about 74 feet).
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McCall won the Big XII indoor weight throw championship, throwing 22.63 meters for a personal record and securing the individual title for Kansas State. He beat Wildcats teammate Gary Moore by about a foot in the final.
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Kade McCall was stoked about competing at the Nationals, but bummed when his favorite hammers were lost. The gay athlete is nonetheless pleased with his season.
The strong man has been publicly out as gay virtually his entire career competing in NCAA track & field for Kansas State. He shared his journey with Outsports in 2022.
“I was a lot more stressed in high school, always feeling like I was going to be outed or something if I did something wrong,” McCall told Outsports. “It’s a lot better now in college. I think the throwing community fully well knows that I’m gay.”
In addition to talking publicly about being gay, he’s also talked about his diet and nutrition and the metabolism of some quick carbs.
In 2024, McCall talked with local Channel 8 News about his aspiration at the time to qualify for the Team USA Olympic Trials
“I’d just like to qualify to get to the trials and just see from there.”
In 2024, the automatic qualifying distance for the hammer throw was 72 meters, with a minimum qualifying distance of 67 meters. McCall hit the latter that put him in the conversation for the Trials, but he did not compete.
McCall was 14th of 16 competitors in the hammer throw at the USA Track & Field National Championships in 2025, competing unofficially as “unattached.”
Will he attempt to make the Team USA Track & Field roster for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles? Only a couple athletes will be selected, and athletes have made big moves to the Olympics after their college careers. Still, McCall has a couple big meters to gain.
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The post Gay athlete takes his final shot at an NCAA title this weekend appeared first on Outsports.
