Now the serious work begins with the Olympics.
More than 20 sports began competition at Paris 2024 on Saturday, joining archery, rugby sevens, handball and football, which had already got underway before the opening ceremony on Friday.
Both the women’s handball and soccer tournaments feature team LGBTQ players, but now players chasing individual glory are also starting to have a chance to shine.
Outsports is tracking the fortunes of at least 175 openly LGBTQ athletes at this year’s games.
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Our weekly newsletter is packed with information on everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
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To help you plan your viewing, here are 10 recommended viewing moments on the LGBTQ-only schedule.
Times are Paris, CEST. Adjust to UK, -1 BST, New York, -6 EDT, LA, -9 PDT.
11am: Tom Daley, Diving
When Daly won gold in the synchronized 10m platform with Matty Lee in Tokyo, he said he was “very proud” to stand on the podium as an openly gay man. Now 30, can he win back-to-back Olympic gold medals, this time with his husband and young sons watching at the Aquatic Centre? Having won silver with diving partner Noah Williams at the world championships in Doha in February, Daly seems set to make it a double.
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11:48am: Rafaela Silva, Judo
On Sunday, Amandine Bouchard won her first medal at this year’s Olympics, winning the bronze medal in the 52kg judo event in her hometown. On Monday, in the women’s 57kg, Brazil’s Silva is the one to watch. She had already won a gold medal at Rio 2016 and then came out as a lesbian. Silva was unable to compete in the Tokyo Olympics due to a two-year suspension for doping, but will return in 2022 after her suspension ends and become world champion for the second time in her career. Now 32, she remains an icon of Brazilian sports and will compete in the Paris Games from the round of 16.
11:48pm: Tyler Wright and Sarah Baum, surfing
The third round of the women’s shortboard competition has begun in Tahiti, but both surfers from the LGBTQ team are still vying for the championship. Wright of Australia is ranked in the top 10 in the World Surf League, but had to undergo skull surgery for balance issues in preparation for the Olympics. Baum of South Africa qualified for the Olympics a year ago by winning the African continental quota. The waves off Tchoupo are tough. “Anyone who goes out there is a total psychopath,” Wright says. Competition continues for the next two days.
“If I can inspire or encourage just one gay boy, in or out of the pool, then to me it’s all worth it,” the U.S.-born Albiero said in a recent Q&A with Sportskeeda. The 25-year-old Albiero will be making his Olympic debut in the fourth heat of the 200-meter butterfly, and if he can come close to matching his personal best of 1:55.52 at the Brazilian heats in May, he’ll likely advance to the evening semifinals, which take place on Wednesday night.
A little bit of Olympic history for Team LGBTQ: Cavelius will become the first openly gay man to compete in Olympic judo when he faces Israel’s Sagi Muki in the round of 32 in the 81kg division. If the German advances, he will likely face South Korea’s Lee Junhwan, who has won bronze medals at the last two world championships. It will be a tough match. The competition will end on the same day. Cavelius will also compete in the mixed team event on August 3.
The New Zealander has been a firm favourite in outsports since coming out as gay nearly a decade ago. Manson began his third Olympic challenge in qualifying on Saturday with double sculls partner Jordan Parry. They placed second behind the Netherlands and comfortably advanced to Tuesday’s semi-finals. The pair won World Cup bronze last month and are highly anticipated to reach Thursday’s final.
Leibvaart is only 20 years old, but she has already made history by becoming the first U.S. woman to qualify for the Olympics in three events in canoeing and kayaking. In Paris, she placed 15th in the kayak slalom (K1) semifinals. Only the top 12 qualify for the final. Leibvaart will next compete in Vers-sur-Marne in the C1 event, where she will need to finish in the top 15 to advance to the semifinals on Thursday.
3.30pm: Women’s Rugby Sevens
With over half of the teams in the tournament featuring openly LGBTQ players, the semi-finals and medal matches will be played at the Stade de France. New Zealand, with Portia Woodman-Wickliffe on their team, are favourites to defend the Olympic title they won in Tokyo, but Australia, the 2016 Rio champions, will be determined to thwart them with Shani Smale (née Williams) playing in her final sevens tournament.
The middleweight (75kg) is the heaviest division in the women’s tournament, and for Basiadan, whose Paris challenge begins with a historic bout against China’s Li Qian in the round of 16. If he makes it to the podium, he will become the first openly transgender man to win an Olympic medal. Later that day, in the opposite draw, Refugee Olympic Team’s Ngamba will face Canada’s Tamara Thibaut. Ngamba fled Cameroon with her family in 2009 and came to the UK, where she was at risk of being deported. She was granted asylum in 2022 because she is a lesbian, as both male and female homosexual acts are illegal in the Central African country.
This final could be a triple crown for the LGBTQ team, with all three riders having placed in the top five in Tokyo three years ago. Roberts, making his Olympic debut here, will represent the USA alongside Venegas, who placed fourth, ahead of Diem. With a fantastic location at the Place de la Concorde, it’s sure to be an exciting event.
