A record number of out LGBT athletes
will compete in the Tokyo Olympics Games later this month.
According to Outsports, an LGBT
sports blog, 141 LGBT athletes from 25 countries will take part in
the games, which is twice the number of out athletes who competed in
the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Summer Olympics will also make
history for hosting the first out transgender athlete. Weightlifter
Laurel Hubbard is the first transgender athlete to qualify for the
Games. She is representing New Zealand.
“Competing at the Olympics as an
openly gay athlete is pretty amazing,” Canadian
swimmer Markus Thormeyer said. “Being able to compete with the
best in the world as my most authentic self at the biggest
international multi-sport games shows how far we’ve come on
inclusion in sport.”
“I'm hoping that by competing at
these Games I can show the LGBTQ community that we do belong and we
can achieve anything we put our minds to,” he said.
The Summer Olympics will take place
without an audience due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic
also delayed the Games by nearly a year. They will begin on July 23.