Out Olympian among LGBTQ track and field athletes competing at World Championships
Dutch sprinter Ramsey Angela was absent from the Paris Olympics but will race in Tokyo, where he won Olympic silver in 2021. The post Out Olympian among LGBTQ track and field athletes competing at World Championships appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
“I will be better. I promise myself.”
A year on from making that vow in the wake of missing out on the Paris Olympic Games, Ramsey Angela has been named to the Netherlands squad for the World Athletics Championships.
It’s a moment of fulfillment for the 25-year-old, who has worked hard all season in a bid to return to Tokyo, where he was part of the silver medal-winning Dutch 4x400m relay team at the delayed Olympics in 2021.
Angela is the latest to join the list of out LGBTQ athletes known to have qualified or so far been selected to compete at the 20th edition of the World Championships, which begin on Sept. 13.
That list includes American trio Nico Young, Nikki Hiltz and Sha’Carri Richardson; Finnish triple jumper Senni Salminen; Spanish race walker Maria Perez; Canadian middle-distance runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford; and British hurdler Seamus Derbyshire.
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Athlete embraced being gay and is now heading to the world track and field championships
Talking exclusively to Outsports, British 400-meter hurdler Seamus Derbyshire says embracing his flamboyant side has helped him qualify for Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan triple-jump legend Yulimar Rojas — still the holder of the women’s world record — is targeting Tokyo for her comeback from injury.
For Angela, the National Stadium in the Japanese capital understandably holds special memories.
“Four years later, I will be back at the stadium where my Olympic dream became reality! Heading to my 3rd World Championships — Same energy, nothing less,” he wrote on Instagram, adding a fire emoji.
On his story Monday, he posted a picture taken in the city of Chiba with teammates Eveline Saalberg and Isaya Klein Ikkink.
Angela is part of the relay squads for the men’s and the mixed team races. Sharing his federation’s announcement post, he put: “Konnichiwa, the word is out.”
In early August, Angela won 400m bronze in the Dutch national championships in a season-best time of 45.43s, just 0.01s off his personal best, set at a meet in South Africa in February 2024.
In the 4x400m relay events, the Dutch men’s team are ranked 13th in the world this year, while the mixed team is 11th.
At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Angela was part of the men’s team that finished sixth in the final, having narrowly failed to progress from the heats at the Worlds held the previous year in Eugene, Oregon.
Ramsey Angela ‘hates labels’ but comfortable being known as queer or bi
It was during the Tokyo Olympics when Angela first appeared on the Outsports radar as an out LGBTQ athlete, having been casually sharing photos on Instagram with his then boyfriend.
Later that year, he spoke to ESPN Netherlands about becoming visible, telling them he “didn’t come out as such” but that he did previously have fears around not being accepted by family members.
He underlined the importance of authenticity for LGBTQ athletes, adding: “I’m sure that if you are yourself, and you present yourself as the person you want to be, people will accept that as normal. But if you’re not yourself, it will become a [negative] thing.”
After that, Angela continued to express himself on Instagram, sharing his passions for photography, modeling and fashion, alongside his exploits on the track.
It was towards the end of June this year when he collaborated with the official Olympics account on a Pride Month post.
“I’m proud to be an openly queer athlete,” he said in the reel. “Being part of this community means knowing that my sexuality doesn’t limit my abilities or my potential in sport in any way.”
The following month, he expanded on this for an article published on the official website of the Dutch Olympic team.
“I hate labels,” admitted Angela. “People call me bisexual, and that’s fine, but I don’t like being pigeonholed. I’ve always been that way. I never really came out. The people around me knew, pretty much.”
He also described growing up in Rotterdam and how finding track gave him a purpose in life away from the city’s street culture.
In terms of navigating being an out LGBTQ athlete and “role model,” he credits gay politician Rob Jetten — the fiancé of another out bi Olympian, the Argentina international field hockey player Nico Keenan — for helping him appreciate the valuable impact of his visibility on others.
“I want to inspire people, but in my own way,” the sprinter says he came to realize. “No big speeches or heavy quotes, but something subtle.”
Now Angela is back on the big stage in track and field. That inevitably means more attention, and the knowledge that more people will learn about the representation he is providing.
However, he’s relaxed about his story and his sexuality being out there in the world.
“What I especially want to convey is this: be who you are and don’t be ashamed of it.”
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The post Out Olympian among LGBTQ track and field athletes competing at World Championships appeared first on Outsports.
