'About time': Gay athletes unleash rainbow wave on Olympics

TOKYO – When Olympic diver Tom Daley announced successful 2013 that helium was dating a antheral and “couldn't beryllium happier,” his coming retired was an enactment of courageousness that, with its rarity, besides exposed however the apical echelons of athletics weren't seen arsenic a harmless abstraction by the immense bulk of LGBTQ athletes.

Back then, the fig of cheery Olympians who felt capable and consenting to talk openly astir their backstage lives could beryllium counted connected a fewer hands. There'd been conscionable 2 twelve openly cheery Olympians among the much than 10,000 who competed astatine the 2012 London Games, a reflection of however unrepresentative and anachronistic top-tier sports were conscionable a decennary agone and, to a ample extent, inactive are.

Still, astatine the Tokyo Games, the representation is changing.

A question of rainbow-colored pride, openness and acceptance is sweeping done Olympic pools, skateparks, halls and fields, with a grounds fig of openly cheery competitors successful Tokyo. Whereas LGBTQ invisibility utilized to marque Olympic sports look retired of measurement with the times, Tokyo is shaping up arsenic a watershed for the assemblage and for the Games — now, finally, starting to amended bespeak quality diversity.

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“It's astir clip that everyone was capable to beryllium who they are and celebrated for it,” said U.S. skateboarder Alexis Sablone, 1 of astatine slightest 5 openly LGBTQ athletes successful that athletics making its Olympic debut successful Tokyo.

“It's truly cool,” Sablone said. “What I anticipation that means is that adjacent extracurricular of sports, kids are raised not conscionable nether the presumption that they are heterosexual."

The cheery website Outsports.com has been tallying the fig of publically retired gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary athletes successful Tokyo. After respective updates, its number is present up to 168, including immoderate who petitioned to get connected the list. That's 3 times the fig that Outsports tallied astatine the past Olympics successful Rio de Janeiro successful 2016. At the London Games, it counted conscionable 23.

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“The monolithic summation successful the fig of retired athletes reflects the increasing acceptance of LGBTQ radical successful sports and society,” Outsports says.

Daley is besides broadcasting that connection from Tokyo, his 4th Olympics wide and 2nd since helium came out.

After winning golden for Britain with Matty Lee successful 10-meter synchronized diving, the 27-year-old reflected connected his travel from young misfit who felt “alone and different" to Olympic champion who says helium present feels little unit to execute due to the fact that helium knows that his hubby and their lad emotion him regardless.

“I anticipation that immoderate young LGBT idiosyncratic retired determination tin spot that nary substance however unsocial you consciousness close present you are not alone," Daley said. "You tin execute anything, and determination is simply a full batch of your chosen household retired here."

“I consciousness incredibly arrogant to accidental that I americium a cheery antheral and besides an Olympic champion,” helium added. “Because, you know, erstwhile I was younger I thought I was ne'er going to beryllium thing oregon execute thing due to the fact that of who I was.”

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Still, there's advancement yet to beryllium made.

Among the much than 11,000 athletes competing successful Tokyo, determination volition beryllium others who inactive consciousness held back, incapable to travel retired and beryllium themselves. Outsports’ database has fewer men, reflecting their deficiency of practice that extends beyond Olympic sports. Finnish Olympian Ari-Pekka Liukkonen is 1 of the uncommon openly cheery men successful his sport, swimming.

“Swimming, it’s inactive overmuch harder to travel retired (for) immoderate reason," helium said. "If you request to fell what you are, it’s precise hard.”

Only this June did an progressive subordinate successful the NFL — Las Vegas Raiders antiaircraft extremity Carl Nassib — come retired arsenic gay. And lone past week did a archetypal subordinate signed to an NHL declaration likewise marque that milestone announcement. Luke Prokop, a 19-year-old Canadian with the Nashville Predators, present has 189,000 likes for his “I americium arrogant to publically archer everyone that I americium gay" post connected Twitter.

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The feeling that “there's inactive a batch of combat to beryllium done” and that she needed to basal up and beryllium counted successful Tokyo is wherefore Elissa Alarie, competing successful rugby, contacted Outsports to get herself named connected its list. With their permission, she besides added 3 of her Canadian teammates.

“It’s important to beryllium connected that database due to the fact that we are successful 2021 and determination are still, like, firsts happening. We spot them successful the men’s nonrecreational sports, NFL, and a clump of different sports," Alarie said. "Yes, we person travel a agelong way. But the information that we inactive person firsts happening means that we request to inactive enactment connected this.”

Tokyo's retired Olympians are besides astir exclusively from Europe, North and South America, and Australia/New Zealand. The lone Asians connected the Outsports database are Indian sprinter Dutee Chand and skateboarder Margielyn Didal from the Philippines.

That large soundlessness resonates with Alarie. Growing up successful a tiny municipality successful Quebec, she had nary cheery relation models and "just thought thing was incorrect with me.”

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"To this day, who we are is inactive amerciable successful galore countries," she said. “So until it's harmless for radical successful those countries to travel out, I deliberation we request to support those voices large and clear."

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AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf and Paul Newberry contributed to this report. Paris-based AP multimedia writer John Leicester is covering his eighth Olympics. Follow him connected Twitter astatine https://twitter.com/johnleicester

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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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