at least 44 Outing LGBTQ athletes According to the LGBTQ sports news site, she will compete in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics and set a Winter Olympics record. out sports.
The competition, which officially opens on Friday, February 6, will feature 34 women and 10 men, with a ratio of approximately 7:2, significantly lower than the 9:1 ratio at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
According to out sportsThe low ratio reflects the fact that there are fewer team events and more female athletes at the Winter Olympics. In Milan, 22 of the 34 female athletes are ice hockey players, making hockey the sport with the largest LGBTQ presence.
Figure skating was the only major sport where there were more men than women at this year’s competition, with six men and one woman competing, including three-time U.S. women’s figure skating champion Amber Glenn.
Other sports without athletes include alpine skiing and freestyle skiing, which involve six competitors. Speed ​​skating, 4-seater. There are two skeletons. Snowboarding, curling, and biathlon each have one athlete out.
Athletes competing in the Olympics represent 13 countries.
Eight American athletes, or about 3% of Team USA, will be absent, including seven women and one men’s speed skater Connor McDermott Mostui.
Mogul skier Elise Lundholm of Sweden is the first transgender athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics.
Despite a global backlash against LGBTQ visibility amid the rise of right-wing populist movements, the number of athletes absent from the Winter Olympics continues to rise, from seven in 2014 to 15 in 2018 and 36 in 2022, according to news agencies. out sports.
The Summer Olympics typically involve far more LGBTQ athletes, with 199 competing in the 2024 Paris Games.
Based on past precedent, the final tally is likely to increase as the Games continue as more athletes are added who are more discreet about their sexual orientation and gender identity over time.
In particular, according to out sportsit is common for male athletes to come out publicly, although it is still rare overall. In contrast, many female athletes, including those in same-sex marriages or long-term relationships, tend to avoid explicitly identifying their identities, often requiring extensive social media research and coverage across multiple news outlets to confirm whether an athlete identifies as LGBTQ.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
