Italian Olympic Archer Lucilla Boari Comes Out After Winning Bronze

The Tokyo Olympics continues to set and break its own records when it comes to LBGTQ+ representation. Italian archer Lucilla Boari is the latest competitor to medal and then come out in a press conference, and her story may be the most touching.

Boari beat out Mackenzie Brown of Team USA 7-1 to clinch the bronze medal and become the first Italian woman to ever win an archery medal. Following her win, while speaking with the Italian media in an interview that was being live-streamed to Facebook, Boari was surprised with a message from Sanne de Laat, a Dutch archer, who is not attending the Tokyo games.

In the message, De Laat congratulated Boari. "It's super, super, super, amazing and I'm super proud of you," she said. "I can't wait until you're here so I can give you the biggest hug there is. I love you so much. Great job."

Moved by the message, Boari appeared to tear up. "That's Sanne, my girlfriend," she explained, with a big smile on her face.

It was a huge day for Baori all around. "I made history today. It's like carpe diem," said Boari. "I have been dreaming about this moment quite a lot, if I can be honest, and that dream just came true. I'm the happiest girl right now," she told World Archery.

Boari is the second Olympic athlete to come out during a press conference this week. Rower Katarzyna Zillmann also took the opportunity to thank her girlfriend after medaling in the quadruple sculls.

Watch the video of Baori below.