History-making gay sportsman gets engaged to his HYROX athlete boyfriend
Dónal Óg Cusack, the first elite athlete to come out as gay in Ireland, shared his and Nathan Adams' happy news on Christmas Day. The post History-making gay sportsman gets engaged to his HYROX athlete boyfriend appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
Former GAA star Dónal Óg Cusack, who is now a respected pundit in Ireland, has announced his engagement to his long-time boyfriend.
A legend in the sport of hurling who won three All-Ireland titles with Cork, Cusack’s coming out as gay in 2009 was hugely significant in Irish society. It was included in Outsports’ 100 most important moments in LGBTQ sports history two years later.
Cusack has been dating Nathan Adams, a model turned entrepreneur and influencer who competes in HYROX, for more than a decade.
On Christmas Day, the couple collaborated on an Instagram reel, in which they are wearing engagement rings in a clifftop setting. Adams included the date and a ring emoji in the caption, writing: “Happy Christmas to all.”
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
Hundreds of well-wishers have added comments congratulating the couple, who live in the small village of Cloyne to the east of Cork in southern Ireland.
Olympic taekwondo star Jack Woolley, who got engaged to his boyfriend Dave in March 2025, was among them.
Related
Irish Olympian Jack Woolley celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with a ‘Dancing’ medal and a ring on it
Jack Woolley won a medal over the weekend for his dancing, but it was the ring from his boyfriend that made St. Patricks’ Day so special.
16 years ago, Cusack went public about his sexuality upon the publication of his autobiography, titled “Come What May.”
Outsports reported on the goalkeeper’s news and the encouraging response he had from his teammates. “Some of the conversations were earnest. Some emotional. Some make me laugh when I look back,” said Cusack at the time.
His coming out was major news in Ireland, where same-sex sexual activity was only decriminalized in 1993. The country was still quite conservative, and a civil partnerships bill was still in the legislation process when Cusack came out in 2009.
He continued to play at the elite level in GAA until March 2013, just before his 36th birthday. He was quickly recruited by national broadcaster RTE to work as an analyst before moving into coaching in 2015.
In that same year, Cusack confirmed he was in a relationship with Adams, then aged 20 and a contender for the “Mr Ireland” title. “Yes, we are in love,” the hurling star told reporters.
He returned to his punditry role in 2019.
Earlier this year, Cusack was a guest on the RTE show “Keys To My Life” in which he revealed that after coming out, he was sent threats against his life in the mail.
However, with strong support from his father in particular, he shrugged them off and focused on his hurling career.
@rteone “I wasn’t a gay hurler, I was a hurler who happened to be gay” Cork hurler and LGBT rights activist Donal Óg Cusack brings Brendan Courtney on an emotive journey though the pivotal places and memories that shaped his life in the first episode of a new series of #KeysToMyLife ♬ original sound – RTÉ One
He told host Brendan Courtney: “From a sporting point of view, playing was really important to me, being the best I could be, but when I look back at my sporting career, I’m delighted I came out while I was playing.
“I wasn’t the gay hurler — I was a hurler who happened to be gay.”
Adams, who came out as gay on social media in the months leading up to Ireland’s 2015 referendum on equal marriage, has previously spoken about how he got into boxing after being bullied at school.
In the last couple of years, he has been regularly competing in HYROX events in Ireland, the U.K. and Germany, collecting medals and personal-best times along the way.
His Instagram account contains many images from his HYROX itinerary as well as events attended with Cusack, including Pride celebrations.
He also appeared in the “Keys To My Life” episode, in which his famous fiancé reflects on his journey as a gay man in sports: “There is enough hassle in life — sexuality shouldn’t be one of them.”
Subscribe to the Outsports newsletter to keep up with your favorite out athletes, inspiring LGBTQ sports stories, and more.
The post History-making gay sportsman gets engaged to his HYROX athlete boyfriend appeared first on Outsports.
