Olympians tell Outsports why it matters to be out lesbian players at the World Cup
Two Olympians tell Outsports they are proud to be part of 'important' LGBTQ representation at the Hockey World Cup.
Mark
Two Olympians who are competing at this month’s Hockey World Cup have told Outsports that LGBTQ visibility remains essential in sports and that, as elite athletes who are lesbians, they are proud to provide representation.
Clara Perez, who competed for Spain at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and Luchi von der Heyde, an Argentina squad member at Rio 2016 who now plays for Germany, responded with enthusiasm after we published a preview of the tournament through an LGBTQ lens.
Outsports highlighted a milestone for hockey — the selection of Argentina’s Nico Keenan, who is the first publicly out gay or bi player in the history of the men’s World Cup.
Alongside Keenan’s story, we also celebrated 11 out players in the women’s event, which is being held in tandem with the men’s in Belgium and the Netherlands. Outside of the Olympic Games, the quadrennial World Cup stands as the pinnacle of international field hockey, attracting millions of viewers worldwide.
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Charlotte Englebert and Emma Puvrez are couple goals in the Belgium squad at a home Hockey World Cup with strong LGBTQ representation.Teammates in love and world’s top goalkeepers lead 11 LGBTQ stars at World Cup
Charlotte Englebert and Emma Puvrez are couple goals in the Belgium squad at a home Hockey World Cup with strong LGBTQ representation.
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That global audience is expanding rapidly, driven in large part by the rise of the Chinese women’s national team, which claimed the silver medal at the Paris Olympics and is currently fourth in the world rankings.
Notably, China’s success is guided by head coach Alyson Annan, an icon of the sport who won two Olympic gold medals and two World Cups as a player for Australia.
One of just two female coaches in charge of the 16 participating women’s national teams at the 2026 World Cup, Annan’s wife is former Netherlands international player Carole Thate.
Our current focus may be on field hockey, but zoom out, and you can see how this fits into the bigger picture of women’s sports.
In recent years, we have tracked and celebrated the growing representation of publicly out LGBTQ athletes on the biggest global stages, including at least 96 out players at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and at least 54 out players at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
As we build toward the L.A. 2028 Olympic Games — where Team LGBTQ is projected to feature more than 200 out athletes — we continue to believe in our “Courage Is Contagious” slogan.
Outsports will keep creating space and opportunity for LGBTQ sportspeople to share their stories, inspire the next generation, and demonstrate why visibility will always matter.
You can contact us to help. Tips from readers are greatly appreciated (you can also DM us on socials); as always, our criteria for inclusion is that the athlete has publicly acknowledged that they are LGBTQ, such as in a media interview, or has otherwise made it clear, such as via social media.
Here are five more out players at the 2026 Hockey World Cup, bringing our tally so far in the women’s tournament to 16…
Clara Perez, Spain
Perez is playing at her first World Cup, having been the first-choice goalkeeper for her country at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 25-year-old was also part of the Spain squad that won bronze at last year’s EuroHockey Championship, where she won the award for Best ‘Keeper.
She is a content creator who uses her Instagram and TikTok accounts to advocate for LGBTQ inclusion, and her recent post about the importance of Pride has had more than 100,000 likes.
@26claraperez Y luego nos preguntamos que por qué hacen falta días como el orgullo Estos comentarios son solo una mínima parte de todo el odio que existe hacia el colectivo en general y una demostración de lo sencillo que es juzgar, criticar y opinar detrás de una pantalla a través de las redes sociales… #colectivo #orgullo #pride ♬ sonido original – Clara Pérez | PorterA Olímpica
Perez told Outsports: “For me, this was never about a big reveal — I never felt the need to ‘come out,’ because loving who I love has never felt like anything other than normal.
“Growing up, when people asked who I liked, I’d say ‘guys or girls’ — looking back, I think I always put ‘guys’ first because it felt safer, not because it was more true. Seeing my own father react with total ease changed something in me — that calm became mine too.
“Now, on social media, I want people to see all of me as one whole person: my appearance, my identity, my life, nothing softened or explained away. People often assume things about who I am just from how I look, and for a while that made me hesitate to just be myself. But I realized: if I have no problem with who I am, why should anyone else’s assumption be mine to manage?
“Sharing my story has reached so many people who don’t feel understood, and that makes it worth it. It’s also brought real criticism from people still stuck in outdated ways of thinking. But that’s exactly why I believe it’s so important to keep speaking up, keep sharing — so that the people who try to hurt us never get to have power over us.”
Perez and Spain beat Ireland 3-2 in their Pool C opener Sunday.
Luchi von der Heyde, Germany
Von der Heyde won more than 100 caps for Argentina, appearing for them at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2018 Hockey World Cup. In that same year, she joined Mannheimer HC in the German Women’s Feldhockey Bundesliga.
She last played for her homeland in 2023, and earlier this year, became a legal German citizen. Following approval from international governing body the FIH, the 29-year-old accepted a call to join the German national team. By the luck of the draw, Germany will meet Argentina in Pool B at this World Cup.
Von der Heyde told us: “I’m a very open person. I like being able to talk openly about many things and to freely express my sexuality and my thoughts about it.
“I speak about it very naturally and often make jokes about it, because I believe that this is how society should be: we should be able to love whoever we want without feeling judged, and to talk about it without receiving negative comments.
“That would also be my message about the importance of representation in field hockey. I want young people to see that they can feel free to be who they truly are and love whoever they want, even in high-performance sport.”
Von der Heyde was a key player on her World Cup debut for Germany in their 3-0 win over Scotland in Saturday’s Pool B opener in Wavre, Belgium.
@fih_hockey Lucina von der Heyde shines in her World Cup debut for Germany!
Germany get a 3-0 win in their opening match at the World Cup against Scotland, with Lucina von der Heyde playing a starring role for Die Danas. #HockeyWorldCup2026 #HWC2026 #Hockey #WorldCup #Germany ♬ original sound – FIH
Antonia Saez, Chile
Saez is a 25-year-old goalkeeper who is at her first Hockey World Cup. Proudly displaying a rainbow in her Instagram bio, she told Outsports that she is a lesbian and that she welcomes the chance to talk about queer representation in women’s sports “when it’s usually ignored.”
She added: “I’m very happy that athletes are feeling more and more confident and comfortable enough in their teams to be out and proud without it being a stigma.”
Pali Ortiz, Argentina
Earlier this year, Ortiz won her 100th international cap for “Las Leones”; this is her second Hockey World Cup, having been part of the squad that reached the quarterfinals in 2018.
A defender or midfielder, she confirmed her inclusion on the Outsports roster.
Cris Cosentino, Argentina
Goalkeeper Cosentino helped Argentina secure bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics with heroic shootout displays against Germany in the quarterfinals and Belgium in the third-place match.
Nicknamed “China,” her prowess at saving penalties led to it becoming more widely known that she is LGBTQ, in rather unusual circumstances.
A rapper called Duki, who is well known on the Argentine music scene, posted on X while watching Cosentino impress on TV in a group-stage match against Australia, writing: “The goalkeeper is chill.”
Duki is dating another Argentine singer, Emilia Mernes. When Cosentino’s girlfriend, who is also called Emilia, saw Duki’s X post, she quote-tweeted it, saying: “Your girlfriend may be Emilia Mernes, but mine saves penalties at the Olympics.”
Their exchange went viral, and Cosentino was recently asked about it during an appearance on ESPN Hockey. “That stuff cracks me up. She can reply whatever she wants!” said the 28-year-old.
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