Gymnast Heath Thorpe isn’t going down without a fight after “devastating” World Championships snub
Thorpe recently set up a GoFundMe to cover his rising legal costs.
Breakout Australian gymnast Heath Thorpe has spent the last several weeks fighting his shocking omission from the country’s World Championship Gymnastics roster.
But with amounting legal fees, he needs help.
Thorpe, one of the few out gay male gymnasts competing internationally, found about his snub last month. Australia’s gymnastics body failed to select him for the marquee event, despite his recent triumphs on the mat. This spring, Thorpe won the Australian All-Around Championships, one of the country’s highest honors in his sport.
He was also part of the team that earned Australia a place in the World Championships, winning the competition’s floor event for the second year in a row.
Belgium will host the championships this October.
“I am absolutely heartbroken to share that I have not been selected to the Australian team for the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships,” Thorpe posted at the time. “Despite my many results and improvements this year alone, including my recent Australian All-Around title, I will not be one of the five Aussie gymnasts afforded an opportunity to compete in the biggest Olympic qualifier come October.”
Later, Thorpe hinted he would appeal the decision. “At this time, I am not allowed to speak to the selection process and what has occurred, but am hopeful that the subsequent findings are made public in due course,” he wrote.
On Thursday, Thorpe provided an update on his situation. He said he appealed his non-selection to the National Sports Tribunal, which partially upheld his case. When Australia Gymnastics didn’t reverse its decision, he appealed once again, but lacked the financial means to move forward
“I did not have the financial means to continue the case,” he wrote. “I was also emotionally exhausted and isolated. This process had been going on for weeks.”
Now $19,000 in debt, Thorpe has set up a GoFundMe page for support.
“Whilst I am incredibly disappointed by the outcome of this appeal, I am proud of myself for standing my ground and asserting my values and self-belief,” he posted.
Thorpe has raised $2,579 at press time.
From a personal standpoint, Thorpe’s snub obviously hurts. The World Championships are the biggest Olympic qualifier. Not participating in the competition hinders his chances at representing Australia at Paris 2024.
“It is obviously a huge blow to my chances to qualify for the Paris Olympics,” Thorpe told Gymnastics Now. “The 2023 World Championships are the biggest Olympic qualifier, so to not be afforded such an opportunity is really devastating and shattering. The all-around qualification method would have been my best chance given my recent upwards trajectory.”
But Thorpe’s battle is about more than personal success. It’s about ensuring there’s LGBTQ+ representation at the highest level of gymnastics. The 22-year-old publicly came out as gay when he was 18, and has often spoken about the dearth of out athletes in his sport.
“When I was younger, there were no queer gymnasts competing on the international level,” he said in an interview about his advocacy efforts. “So when I was coming to terms with my identity, I now realize how significant it could’ve been if there were one or even two people at the top level being themselves.”
Though there were at least 186 out athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Games, there was only one gymnast: Caitlin Rooskrantz of South Africa.
Outside of Thorpe, Brazilian artistic gymnast Arthur Nory is the only other widely known active out male athlete in the sport. (Three-time Chilean Olympian Tomás González recently came out as gay, too.)
Thorpe, who incorporates leaps and other acrobatics into his jaw-dropping routines, attributes the lack of LGBTQ+ representation to the heteronormative environment around the sport.
“Artistry in the eyes of men’s gymnastics equals femininity and for some reason we see that as a bad thing,” he told Inside Gymnastics last year.
Even though Thorpe has been left off the world championships roster, his Olympic hopes aren’t lost. He could qualify after the world cups next year, and could compete at next spring’s Oceania Championships as well.
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