Ohio State gymnast feared coming out. Instead, nobody blinked.

For Jacob Harmon, the goal was never about medals. It was simply making a college gymnastics team. 

“I got to fulfill my dream,” Harmon told Outsports just a few weeks after the out gay gymnast competed in the NCAA National Championships. “Making a team was really the only thing I set out to achieve, and I did it.”

That dream became reality at Ohio State, where Harmon spent four years as an openly gay gymnast competing for one of the country’s top NCAA men’s gymnastics programs.

Now, after graduating from Ohio State with a degree in exercise science, Harmon is trying to figure out what comes next. 

Maybe New York City. Maybe physical therapy school down the road. Maybe simply taking a breath after a lifetime spent on rigid training schedules.

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“I really want to enjoy a gap year or two and just be young,” he said. “Gymnastics had me on such a rigorous schedule for so long.”

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The adjustment may take time. Gymnastics has been part of Harmon’s life almost since he could walk.

Like many gymnasts, he started in parent-and-child classes at the YMCA as a toddler growing up in New Hampshire. He briefly tried other sports – T-ball, soccer and the usual childhood rotation of pursuits – but none of them clicked. 

“My skills were very natural in only one thing,” he said. “And that was gymnastics.”

By first grade, he was competing seriously. The sport quickly became central to his identity and daily life. 

Yet the path to Division I gymnastics was anything but guaranteed.

Men’s gymnastics remains one of the NCAA’s smallest sports, with only a handful of Division I programs nationwide. At the recent NCAA National Championships, only six schools — including Ohio State — fielded full teams. Harmon finished 17th overall in floor and 13th in high bar in the 2026 championships.

Only 15 college have a varsity men’s gymnastics team.

Harmon said recruiting opportunities were limited, and during his senior year of high school he spent much of his time emailing coaches, sending videos and hoping someone would give him a chance.

Ohio State eventually offered him a walk-on opportunity. He arrived in Columbus unsure whether he would even make the roster.

“I was very focused on gymnastics,” Harmon recalled. “I was like, ‘I need to make this team first and foremost. Then I’ll figure out where I stand.’”

By the end of his first semester, he had earned a spot. He would remain on the roster all four of his years in Columbus.

Jacob Harmon was already out before Ohio State

Jacob Harmon also arrived on campus already openly gay, something he said ultimately became far less dramatic than he once feared. He came out to everyone during his junior year of high school with a Snapchat post to friends and classmates.

“To no one’s surprise,” he joked.

Instead of backlash, the reaction was almost comically underwhelming. 

“I remember posting it on social media and being so nervous,” Harmon said. “And then nobody even commented on it. I think everyone was like, ‘Obviously.’”

Still, he remembers the anxiety that came with walking into practice the next day. 

“When you’re 15, it feels like the end of the world,” he said.

Harmon recognizes how fortunate he was to grow up with supportive parents and in an environment where being gay was not treated as a crisis. That stability helped shape the confidence he carried into college athletics.

At Ohio State, he said his teammates were welcoming from the beginning. 

“The guys were super accepting,” Harmon said. “It was never a secret. I’m a pretty out person in general.”

Still complications being an out gay college gymnast

Men’s gymnastics can still carry complicated expectations around masculinity. Harmon said the sport often wrestles with stereotypes that push some athletes to overcompensate by leaning into hyper-masculine behavior.

“There aren’t a lot of out gay men’s gymnasts,” he said. “A lot of the guys in the sport will try to be more bro-y.” 

But Harmon also emphasized that many of those teammates became some of his closest friends.

At the same time, he understands the importance of visibility for younger athletes searching for examples of people like themselves.

As a teenager, Harmon looked up to openly gay gymnasts like Eddie Penev and former Arizona State gymnast Jackson Harrison. Simply seeing successful LGBTQ athletes living openly mattered.

Now he realizes younger gymnasts may be looking at him the same way. 

“That one gay kid who’s looking at a program and sees an out person on the team, it goes a really long way,” Harmon said.

Despite broader cultural and political tensions surrounding LGBTQ inclusion in sports, Harmon believes visibility continues to improve in college athletics. 

“I think now most men’s gymnastics programs have some out athletes on them,” he said. “For the next generation, it’s really good to see. Like, ‘Oh, I can do this too.’”

That message is at the center of the advice Harmon now gives younger LGBTQ athletes. 

“People appreciate authenticity a lot more than you think. Showing up as yourself goes a long way.”

He believes the self-discovery that often accompanies coming out can ultimately become a strength in team environments, where different perspectives and personalities help build culture. 

“You can’t just have the same person over and over again. Different people build a culture differently.”

For athletes deciding whether to come out, Harmon acknowledges the fear is real. But he also believes authenticity can help people quickly recognize whether a team or environment is truly right for them. 

“If someplace doesn’t like that about you, then you know where to steer clear of,” he said.

Now 21, Harmon says the fears that once consumed him as a teenager feel distant. 

“At the time, it felt like the end of the world. Now I barely even think about coming out anymore. I’m just present and gay all the time.”

Jacob Harmon is on Instagram.

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