45 LGBT Athletes Who Competed in a Winter Olympics

A Comprehensive List of LGBT Winter Olympians

There is a record number of out athletes for a Winter Olympics at the 2018 games in PyeongChang this year. But plenty of stars on the ice and snow have publicly revealed they were gay, lesbian, or bisexual, if not during their competitive careers, than afterward. Here's a list of dozens of Winter Olympians who have represented their nations on the sporting world's greatest international stage.

Belle Brockhoff*

Australia

Snowboard Cross

Despite an injury in early 2017, expectations are high for this star snowboarder. The first Aussie to medal at a World Cup snowboarding competition was among seven out athletes competing at Sochi in 2014, having come out as lesbian in protest of Russia's "gay propaganda" law, and she's been a prominent face of Principle 6, the Olympic charter's nondiscrimination statement.

Daniela Iraschko-Stolz*

Austria

Ski Jumping

The star skier holds the women's ski flying record (200 meters), which she achieved way back in 2003. But the 33-year-old remains one of the most successful women in sports. She took a silver medal in Sochi, the second out athlete to do so at those games. She married wife Isabel Stoltz in 2013.

Barbara Jezeršek*

Australia

Cross-Country Skiing

The European-born skier represented her native Slovenia at Olympics in 2010 and 2014, but plans to represent her new Australian homeland at the 2018 games. She finished in the top 20 for the Skiathlon event in both Vancouver and Sochi, and consistently has been ranked internationally this year. Now she's ready to conquer the snows of PyeongChang.

Gus Kenworthy*

USA

Freestyle Skiing

The freestyle skier won a silver medal in Sochi in 2014 as part of an American sweep in the slopestyle skiing event. A year later, he came out to ESPN. The X Games star heads to PyeongChang, potentially competing in both slopestyle and halfpipe, and as one of this year's big stars for Team USA.

Cheryl Maas*

Netherlands

Snowboard

The 33-year-old Dutchwoman finished a stunningly strong 6th place at her first Big Air competition of the season in Milan, and if she can keep up that level of performance could compete in both Big Air and slopeboard at PyeongChang. The lesbian snowboarder made headlines at Sochi when she became the first Olympian to openly defy Russia's gay propaganda law by raising a rainbow unicorn glove to the cameras during qualifying.

Eric Radford*

Canada

Figure Skating (pairs)

A two-time world champion with skating partner Meaghan Duhamel, Radford heads to PyeongChang with a reputation for technical mastery in his sport. The pair in 2014 perfected the quadruple throw salchow. In 2014, months after competing in Sochi, Radford came out publicly as gay, the first elite figure skater to do at the height of his career. After winning the Canadian national championship in January, Radford and Duhamel head to the Winter Olympics representing their nation one more time.

Adam Rippon*

USA

Men's Figure Skating

Rippon will join the list of out Olympians when he competes for the U.S. in PyeongChang in February. The U.S. National Champion in 2016, Rippon hoped to make the team in 2006 in 2010 but fell short both years. Rippon came in fourth at the National Championships this month, but based on strong competition this season still got the second American slot to compete at the Olympics in men's singles. Rippon publicly came out in an issue of Skating magazine in 2015, and he will be the first figure skater to represent the U.S. at the Olympics while out.

Ireen Wüst*

Netherlands

Speed Skating (Long Track)

At age 19, Wust became the youngest Dutch Olympic champion in Winter Olympian history by taking the gold in 3,000-meter event at the 2006 games in Torino. The openly bisexual athlete is now considered the most successful female Winter Olympian in the Netherlands' history, having won gold in the 1,500-meter race at Vancouver and taking two golds at Sochi, in the 3,000-meter and in team pursuit, along with three silvers. She's now the star female competitor for her homeland, competing in the 2018 games in three events during this, her fourth and final games. If she wins another gold, it would make her the first Dutch Olympian to ever top the podium at four Olympics.

Brian Boitano

USA

Figure skating

The California skater won the gold medal for United States at the 1988 games in Calgary and remains a legend in the sport. But he kept his sexuality a private matter until 2014, when the United States sent a delegation to Russia made up of high-profile gay athletes. "I had to make it official since I was going to be on the delegation," he told Out. "I never felt like I needed to before, so whether people figured it out if I was gay or not, I had to make it official, why I had to come out publicly."

Anastasia Bucsis

Canada

Speed Skating

The long-track speed skater represented Canada in the 500-meter race in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014. In between, she came out as gay to The Globe and Mail while criticizing Russia's antigay laws. She retired from the sport in 2017, according to Speed Skating Canada.

Jeff Buttle

Canada

Figure Skating

The Canadian skater won a bronze in men's singles at the 2006 games in Torino and went on to win a World Championship in 2008. But he never discussed his sexuality until he started playing hockey for the Toronto Gay Hockey Association, where he started literally wearing that part of his identity on his sleeve, something he discussed with Hockey News in 2012.

Caitin Cahow

USA

Hockey

The defenseman's first days on the rink as a child were during figure skating practices, but she quickly traded her sequins for a stick. Cahow skated for Team USA in the 2006 games in Torino and the 2010 games in Vancouver, picking up a bronze and silver respectively. The high scorer also helped the Minnesota Whitecaps to a Western Women's Hockey League championship in 2009. She also ended up as one of President Obama's coincidentally gay delegation of athletes who represented the United States at the 2014 games in Sochi, a clear message at the time about Russia's "gay propaganda" law.

Callan Chythlook-Sifsof

USA

Snowboard

The snowboarder in 2010 became to first native Alaskan to make a U.S. Olympic team. She had planned in 2014 to come out at Sochi in protest of Russia's "gay propaganda" law but failed to make the team. But she came out to ESPN during the games anyway.

Toller Cranston

Canada

Figure Skating

A legendary showman on the ice, this Canadian skater won bronze at the 1976 games at Innsbruck. He would go on to be an illustrator and designer before dying of a heart attack in 2015, according to The Globe and Mail. In his 2000 memoir, When Hell Freezes Over: Should I Bring My Skates?, the bisexual skater described relationships with women and men, including fellow male skater Ondrej Nepela.

John Curry

United Kingdom

Figure Skating

The British skater, famous for bringing ballet and dance moves into men's figure skating, won the gold at the 1976 games in Innsbruck, where he also acted as flag bearer for his nation. Shortly before competing at Worlds that same year, the German newspaper Bild-Zeitung outed Curry as gay, causing a minor scandal in Europe, but hewent on to win the event anyway, making him the first skater to win the European, Olympic and World championships in a single season, according to the BBC. He died of AIDS complications in 1994.

Nancy Drolet

Canada

Ice Hockey

The Canadian forward represented her nation in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, where she won a silver medal. She also played pro for the Vancouver Griffins. Drolet married partner Nathalie Allaire shortly after Quebec legalized same-sex unions in 2002, according to Outsports.

John Fennell

USA

Luge

The rising star made his Olympic debut competing for Canada at the Sochi Olympics, where he finished 27th in men's singles. Four months after the games, the young luger came out as gay. The Denver-born athlete tried to nab a spot as part of Team USA for the games this year, but after his sled broke during a qualifying run, he lost out on his shot at competing at the 2018 games.

Randy Gardner

USA

Figure Skating

Alongside skating partner Tai Babilonia, Gardner represented the U.S. at the 1976 Olympics, placing fifth. The pair did, however, go on to win a World Championship in 1979. The two were contenders for gold heading into the 1980 games before Gardner tore his thigh in practice, according to People. After years of questions of whether he and Babilonia would ever date, Gardner revealed to Scene magazine in 2006 that he was gay.

Timothy Goebel

USA

Figure Skating

The first skater to ever land a quadruple salchow in competition, the American skater won a bronze for the U.S. at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. He retired from competition in 2006 and is now a data analyst at Google. Last year, he married PIMCO executive Thomas Luciano, according to IceNetwork.com.

Joan Guetschow

USA

Cross-Country Skiing/Biathlon

The winner of the Unites States' first Olympic Biathlon Trials in 1992, she represented the nation in both the Albertville Olympics that year and the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994. She later married Olympic skeleton slider Tricia Stumpf.

Jayna Hefford

Canada

Hockey

One of the longest-serving members of Canada's National Women's Team, Hefford already has four Olympic gold medals and one silver to her name. She made the game-winning goal when Canada beat the U.S. at the Salt Lake City games in 2002, creating a lingering image in her nation's sports history. The mother of two raises her family in Toronto with partner and former U.S. Olympic hockey player Kathleen Kauth.

Edel Therese Høiseth

Norway

Speed Skating

The Norwegian long-track skater represented her nation in five Olympic games -- in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, and 1998. OlympSports lists her among out LGBT Olympians.

Erika Holst

Sweden

Hockey

Part of Sweden's silver-winning team at the 2006 Olympics in Torino as well as a bronze-winning squad at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, the Swedish hockey player won acclaim in American college sports playing for the Minnesota-Duluth women's ice hockey team and helping the school win three NCAA championships.

Stine Brun Kjeldaas

Norway

Snowboard

The snowboarder won a silver in halfpipe for Norway at the 1998 games in Nagano. Nowadays she can be found in the crowd at Olympic events cheering on wife Cheryl Maas, who plans to represent the Netherlands at PyeongChang Olympics this year, according to Outsports.

Kathleen Kauth

USA

Hockey

The American forward played for the U.S. at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, where the team won a bronze medal. She also played pro for the Brampton Thunder. After her Olympic career, she would raise a family with Canadian Olympic hockey player Jayna Hefford, according to The Whig-Standard.

Charline Labonte

Canada

Hockey

The heavily decorated goalkeeper played on Canada's gold-winning Olympic rosters in 2006 in Torino, 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi. She retired from the ice in 2017 after leading the Montreal Stars to a 2017 Clarkson Cup, according to CBC/Radio Canada. In 2014, she came out to Outsports alongside girlfriend and Olympic speed skater Anastasia Bucsis.

Ylva Linberg

Sweden

Hockey

The Swedish player represented her nation in 2006 when the team won a silver in Torino, and also skated on the bronze-winning team in Salt Lake City in 2002. She came out to the Swedish QX Magazine in 2006 along with romantic partner and fellow Olympian Erika Holst.

Robert McCall

Canada

Ice Dancing

The Canadian ice dancer teamed up with skating partner Tracy Wilson in 1981 and competed with her at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. At the latter event, the pair won a bronze, and they went pro the next year. Tragically, he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1990 while on tour, and he died the following year. Skaters would later say McCall's homosexuality had been an open secret within the sport. Wilson would tell The New York TimesMcCall had kept his illness quiet for fear it would affect his ability to tour in the United States.

Eric Mitchell

Canada

Ski Jump

Canada's 2013 National Champion in ski jumping, Mitchell represented his nation at the 2010 games on home soil in Vancouver. He failed to make the 2014 team in advance of the Sochi Olympics, and when he came out to Outsportsin 2015 said that may have been partly because of the distractions and mental constraints of being closeted at the time.

Ondrej Nepela

Czechoslovakia

Figure Skating

The Slovak skater went to his first Olympics at age 13 in 1964, and later won gold at the 1972 games in Sapparo, the only person from his nation to ever accomplish that feat. Czeck newspaper SME reports Nepela remains one of the greatest athletes in his nation's history. Nepela, though, would die in 1989 at the age of 38. Official medical reports list cancer of the lymph nodes as his cause of death, but he often gets listed among athletes who died of AIDS-related complications.

Ryan O’Meara

USA

Ice Dancing

The ice dancer represented the United States at the 2006 games in Torino alongside skating partner Jamie Silverstein. The pair placed 16th overall at the games and O'Meara retired from skating shortly afterward. He came out publicly as gay in 2008, and told Gay.com that many gay skaters compete but don't discuss their sexuality publicly. "I don't know why there aren't more out skaters. Most of them are out to the community, so I think it's more of a privacy issue," he said.

Brian Orser

Canada

Figure Skating

One of skating's greatest stars in the 1980s, Canada's Orser won silver at both the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo and the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, in the latter competing against Brian Boitano in the famous "Battle of the Brians." He would go on to a world-class coaching career. His homosexuality would become a matter of public record thanks to a palimony suit filed in Canada, forcing the skater to come out in 1988, as reported by The Advocate.

Anja Pärson

Sweden

Alpine Skiing

The seven-time world champion skier won a gold medal in Slalom for Sweden at the 2006 games in Torino, where she also nabbed bronze medals in downhill and combined. She also medaled at Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 and in Vancouver in 2010, giving her six Olympic medals in total. In 2012, she came out to Swedish publication Svenska Dagbladet, revealing her relationship with partner Filippa Radin and the fact the couple was expecting a child.

Brian Pockar

Canada

Figure Skating

The Canadian skater represented his nation at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. While he failed to make the podium there, he would go on to win a bronze at Worlds two years later. But a decade later, he would succumb to AIDS at age 32 as the disease took a particular toll on Canadian skaters, as reported by People. Brian Orser, in an argument to keep a palimony suit private, once said Rob McCall came out professionally during a broadcasting career but was fired for doing so, according to Rainbow Ice. Scott Hamilton in his book Landing It later credited Pockar and Rob McCall for helping him get over personal homophobia, but Hamilton also got criticized for posthumously outing the men.

Emilia Ramboldt

Sweden

Hockey

The defender represented Sweden at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. She married wife Anna in 2016, according to Go Magazine. She's represented both Sweden and Canada in international competition.

Ronald Robertson

USA

Figure Skating

The American dancer won silver at the 1956 at Cortina d'Ampezzo, and also won silver twice at the World Championships. Actor Tab Hunter later revealed he had a long-term relationship with Robertson, which covered the skater's competitive career, he told OutSmart Magazine in 2006. Robertson died of pneumonia and AIDS complications in 2000 at age 62, and shortly afterward coach Michael Kirby outed the late skater in his book Figure Skating to Fancy Skating, according to Rainbow Ice.

Matthew Savoie

USA

Figure Skating

The American skater competed in the 2006 games in Torino, where he finished seventh overall. He later became an attorney and in 2012 married fellow lawyer Brian Boyle, according to IceNetwork.com.

Blake Skjellerup

New Zealand

Speed Skating (short track)

The short track skater represented New Zealand at the 2010 games in Vancouver. Shortly after the games, he came out to DNA Magazine, where he said that being open about his homosexuality could have detrimentally impacted sponsorships leading into the games. The kiwi skater has since launched an antibullying campaign in his native land with Pink Shirt Day.

Tricia Stumpf

USA

Skeleton

The skeleton slider got selected for the U.S. team in 2002 in Salt Lake City, but ultimately couldn't compete because of an injury. She has since married Olympic biathlete Joan Guetschow.

Sarah Vaillancourt

Canada

Hockey

The star forward picked up gold medals for Canada at both the 2006 games in Torino and the 2010 games in Vancouver. She retired from the sport in 2013, according to CBC/Radio Canada. She's the rare athlete who was out her entire pro career, having been an out lesbian as far back as her freshman year playing for Harvard, according to the Greatest Hockey Legends blog.

Sanne van Kerkhof

Netherlands

Speed Skating (short track)

The Dutch short-track skater competed in the Netherlands relay team at the 2010 games in Vancouver and retired from the sport in 2014, according to Randstad. When long-track legend Ireen Wust came out as bisexual in 2009, she revealed she was in a relationship with Van Kerkhof, though the pair would quickly shy away from media attention surrounding their relationship, according to de Volkskrant.

Johnny Weir

USA

Figure Skating

The American skater represented the United States in both the 2006 games in Torino and the 2010 games in Vancouver, respectively finishing in fifth and sixth place overall. While questions about the flamboyant skater followed him through his career -- two Canadian broadcasters caught flak and inspired a Pride House protest after making homophobic comments about Weir at the 2010 Olympics -- he did not come out until 2011, when he revealed he was gay in his memoir, Welcome to My World. While he briefly attempted a comeback afterwards, he announced his retirement from competition in 2013 and did not compete in the National Championships or vie for a spot in the 2014 Olympics. Instead, he went to Sochi as a broadcaster for NBC.

Marieke Wijsman

Norway

Speed Skating

The speed skater competed with the Netherlands at the 1998 games in Nagano. She later spoke about being a lesbian in professional sports to writer Huub ter Haar for his book The Draw, according to de Volksrant.

Stacy Wilson

Canada

Hockey

Wilson served as team captain for Canada's Olympic team at the 1988 games in Nagano, leading the team to a silver medal there. But she also had to battle rumors at the time about whether she was dating team coach Shannon Miller, something both women denied to Canoe. Wilson is a member of the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame as of 2007.

Chris Witty

USA

Speed Skating

The only known LGBT Olympian to date to compete in both a winter and summer Olympics, American Chris Witty won a gold medal in speed skating in the 1,000 meter race at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, as reported in The New York Times. That was after winning a silver and bronze at Nagano in 1998. At the 2006 games in Torino, she was selected as flag bearer for the U.S. team. In warmer weather, she also managed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in cycling in 2000. In 2014, she spoke about her post-competition life with partner Frouke Oonk to Dutch publication Schaatsen.

Jorik Hendrickx

Belgian figure skater Hendrickx this year will be the only male figure skater representing Belgium at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The only other skater for his nation, as it happens, is his sister Loena, but unlike some other famous skating siblings these two will both compete in individual events. Hendrickx spoke in January spoke to Dutch media outlet ZiZoabout what it's like to travel in an international sport when homosexuality is still frowned upon in much of the world. He competed at the Sochi games in 2014, where he finished in 16th place, but says he refused then to publicly answer any questions about his sexuality.

Javier Raya

The Spanish skater came in 25th place at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. Two years later, be came out as gay in an Instagram post. Spanish LGBT media outlet dosmanzanas.com reported that Raya was the first Spanish Olympian ever to publicly announce he was gay.

Brittany Bowe

USA

Speed Skating Long Track

The long-track star has been setting world records and winning world medals since her Olympic debut at Sochi in 2014. At US qualifying this year, she was the top American in the 500- and 1,500-meters, and also qualified in the 1,000-meters with a second-place performance. In October, she discussed her relationship with fellow skater Manon Kamminga of The Netherlands with NBC News.

Emilia Andersson Ramboldt

Sweden

Hockey

Ramboldt will return to the Olympics once again. The defender represented Sweden at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, but did not play at the 2014 games. She married wife Anna in 2016, according to Go Magazine. She's represented both Sweden and Canada in international competition.

Šárka Pančochová

Czech Republic

The Czech snowboarder competed in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 games in Sochi, making finals in slopestyle at the latter games. Now she heads to PyeongChang for her third games and her first since coming out. She came out to OutSports in March 2017.

Simona Meiler

Switzerland

Snowboard

Simona Meilor will compete this year for Switzerland in Snowboard Cross. She also competed for her homeland in 2014 in Sochi, and spoke then to Swiss outlet SWI about being the only out athlete on the Swiss Olympic team and why she signed a petition asking the International Olympic Committee to pressure Russia to reconsider its anti-gay propaganda laws. This will be her third Olympic games; she also competed in Vancouver in 2010.