LGBTQ Athletes At Beijing Olympics

There are at least 34 out LGBTQ athletes competing in the Winter Games in Beijing that run from Friday February 4th 2022 to Sunday February 20th 2022 in Beijing, China. This is more than double the amount of LGBTQ athletes that competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. There are 12 out LGBTQ athletes in ice hockey all of which are women including Brianne Jenner, Erin Ambrose, Emily Clark, Mélodie Daoust, Jamie Lee Rattray, Jill Saulnier & Micah Zandee-Hart from Canada. Also Ebba Berglund & Anna Kjellbin from Sweden, Alex Carpenter from the USA, Aneta Lédlová from the Czech Republic & Ronja Savolainen from Finland. Out LGBTQ athletes competing in Skeleton include Andrew Blaser from the USA, Kim Meylemans from Belgium & Nicole Silveira from Brazil who stated, “Knowing that I can step on the big stage, the Olympics, as a known LGBTQ member & be able to bring out more visibility & help athletes be who they want to be, brings me a lot of joy. I hope I can be that person that helps lift that weight off someone else’s shoulder.” Andrew Blaser concluded, “I think that the opportunity to represent the community at these games is amazing. I hope that my participation will help someone else realize that they have the opportunity to compete & the ability to achieve any & all of their goals regardless of sexual orientation.” There are also a number of publicly out coaches at the Beijing Olympic Games. The 2022 Beijing Winter Games will also be the first Olympics under the International Olympic Committee’s new framework on Fairness, Inclusion & Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity & Sex Variations. For More Info…