Gay athlete wins silver and bronze at US Championships, inches closer to the Olympics
Conor McDermott-Mostowy won two medals at the US Championships, again joining Team USA at the Speed Skating World Cups. The post Gay athlete wins silver and bronze at US Championships, inches closer to the Olympics appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
Conor McDermott-Mostowy won two medals at the US Championships in speedskating over the weekend, another step toward the out gay athlete making Team USA for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
McDermott-Mostowy added a fifth-place finish in the 500-meter.
His silver-medal time in the 1500-meter was a personal record for him — 1:44.69 — finishing behind gold medalist Jordan Stolz, the best American male speedskater today.
Stolz racked up wins in the 500-meter, 1500-meter and mass start.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly playbook is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
Related
Funding out Olympic athletes brings inspiration, and this gay Team USA athlete can use the help
Out gay Team USA speed skater Conor McDermott-Mostowy is aiming for his first Winter Olympics. and he can use your help.
McDermott-Mostowy celebrated his two US Championships medals with his sights set on Milan.
“Now the real work toward the Olympics begins,” he wrote on Instagram.
Conor McDermott-Mostowy is the rare out gay man in speed skating
Conor McDermott-Mostowy came out publicly as gay on Outsports in 2021. It was shortly after he won two gold medals at the US Championships.
At the time he talked about his concerns coming out as gay due to the stereotypes in sports about gay men, that they’re not athletic. In a strength sport like speed skating — you try to go around that track that fast and see how your quads feel — that could create hurdles in a number of ways.
Yet after his success on the track in 2021, his perspective changed.
“I’ve been uncomfortable with that. But I feel like at this point, no one can say anything,” he said.
Since then, McDermott-Mostowy has been a member of the US Long Track National Team from 2020 through this season, as he will again be representing the United States on the international stage in the series of five World Cups. That series starts in Salt Lake City, where McDermott-Mostowy lives and trains, Nov. 14-16.
Blake Skjellerup is the other out gay man who has competed on the international stage in speedskating.
His Olympic chances will be finalized following the US Long Track Olympic Team Trials, Jan. 2-6, in Milwaukee. There has never been a publicly out gay man to compete in the Olympics in figure skating. Some prominent out women in the sport have included Brittany Bowe and Ireen Wüst.
Editor’s note: Cyd Zeigler is an unpaid member of the Board of Directors for Out Athlete Fund, a 501c3 non-profit raising money for out LGBTQ Olympic hopefuls — including Conor McDermott-Mostowy — and Pride House at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
Subscribe to the Outsports newsletter to keep up with your favorite out athletes, inspiring LGBTQ sports stories, and more.
The post Gay athlete wins silver and bronze at US Championships, inches closer to the Olympics appeared first on Outsports.
