Record 199 out LGBTQ athletes made Paris Summer Olympics the gayest ever

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ended with a record 199 out gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer and nonbinary athletes competing, a final Outsports count shows.

You can see the entire list of out athletes in Paris here.

Team LGBTQ was a smashing success, with 43 “team” medals (16 golds, 13 silvers and 14 bronzes) and and with 65 out athletes winning medals. More than half of the gold-medal winning Team USA women’s basketball team is out.

On Monday, a day after the closing ceremony, we confirmed four more out Olympians: Paula Camus, a player on Spain’s gold-medal winning women’s water polo team, along with Lauren Mansfield (Australia 3×3 basketball) and cyclists Lowri Thomas (Great Britain) and Emily Ehrlich (USA).

“Yes I’m part of the LGBTQ community and yes I’m glad to join the team,” Camus wrote to Outsports.

Related

Team LGBTQ at the 2024 Paris Summer Games
The list of out gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary Olympians will continue to grow.

See the list of out athletes.

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

Outsports has revised its tally from the original 144 out LGBTQ athletes we posted on July 17. In the weeks since, we have gotten submissions from many readers and several journalists, which allowed us to verify 55 more out athletes and update the list.

The number surpasses the 186 out athletes at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021. And it is a nearly fourfold increase from the 53 in Rio in 2016 and eightfold from London in 2012.

The list is dominated by women by about a 9 to1 ratio, which is similar to Tokyo. However, it does include 20 out gay and bi men, which is a record. On this list are the first out male U.S. men’s track and field athlete, Nico Young, and the first out male judoka, Timo Cavelius, from Germany.

Irish taekwondo athlete Jack Woolley, in his second Olympics, is one of the male athletes excited to be on the list, telling Outsports: “In the last few months, I’ve really noticed the benefits of being open that I’m in a same-sex relationship and how much it can inspire others, so thank you so much for sharing us! It’s very important.”

This record number reflects the increasing visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ athletes. However, this is primarily a phenomenon of countries in North and South America, Western Europe and Australia and New Zealand. So far, 27 nations are represented within Team LGBTQ in Paris, from a total of 206 teams — a figure that includes the competing Refugee Olympic Team.

Related

How the Olympics became the queerest sporting event in the world
We’ve always been there, and with each Olympic Games, LGBTQ+ visibility is gaining traction — a win regardless of who stands on the podium.

How we found the 199 out LGBTQ athletes at the Summer Olympics
The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature at least 199 publicly out LGBTQ athletes, marking the second consecutive Summer Games with triple-digit representation. This milestone highlights growing acceptance in sports.

There are only three out athletes from Asia: two boxers from the Philippines and one from Thailand. There are only four athletes from Africa: three South Africans, and one from the Refugee Olympic Team, boxer Cindy Ngamba, born in Cameroon and now living in Great Britain, who won a bronze medal in Paris. There is only one athlete from any Muslim-dominated country (a Turkish volleyball player), places where being out and gay is often illegal or dangerous.

Team USA has the most out Olympians, 34 (but only one man). Brazil is second with 30. Other countries with notable numbers of publicly out athletes are Australia (23), Spain (14), Germany (13), Great Britain (12), Canada (11), the Netherlands (10), host nation France (9) and New Zealand (7).

All sports have at least one athlete except BMX racing, breaking, modern pentathlon, mountain biking, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming and triathlon.

Among the prominent out Olympians are British diver Tom Daley; USA track star Sha’Carri Richardson (who might be the world’s fastest woman); pro basketball players Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, Kahleah Copper and Chelsea Gray of Team USA; and trans nonbinary athletes Quinn (Canada soccer) and Nikki Hiltz (USA track and field).

We know we likely have missed some out athletes, especially those who are non-Americans, as Outsports is based in the United States. If you know of an out LGBTQ athlete not on the list, or have any other inquiry, please contact us via email (team@outsports.com), or direct message us on Twitter/X (@outsports), Instagram (@outsports) or Facebook (OutsportsSBN).

The post Record 199 out LGBTQ athletes made Paris Summer Olympics the gayest ever appeared first on Outsports.