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Kirsty Gilmore is incredibly proud to be the only openly LGBTQ badminton player at the Olympic Games.
There are 191 openly LGBTQ players in Paris, 11 of whom are on the British team, but Gilmour is the only shuttler.
“I’m very proud,” Gilmore said. “Being the only out badminton player was just an accident, it wasn’t intentional!”
“Being my true self in public is first a privilege and secondly a necessity. On the court I’m showing my true self, being very vulnerable and, to put it bluntly, chasing my dreams.”
“You have to be who you are. For me personally, hiding parts of myself doesn’t help me perform better. I’m proud to have come out.”
Homosexuality is a criminal offence in many countries where badminton is the national sport, such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
This will be Gilmore’s third Olympic Games, making her just the second British player to achieve so many appearances in the women’s singles.
She limited herself to just one selfie, taken with fellow Glaswegian Andy Murray in the Olympic Village.
“I shot my shot, I took a selfie, but at the end of the day it’s Andy,” the 30-year-old said. “I might not get another chance.”
Gilmore began her campaign in Paris with a comfortable 21-13, 21-11 victory over Keisha Fatima Azzah of Azerbaijan.
Kirsty Gilmore (Getty Images)
She faces a tougher test in the second match against sixth-seeded He Bingshao of China, who she must win to reach the final tournament for the first time in an Olympic Games.
“Honestly, I was as nervous as I was for my first Olympics,” said Gilmour, who is one of more than 1,000 elite athletes taking part in British Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, which allows her to train full-time, access the world’s best coaches and pioneering medical support – crucial on the road to Paris 2024.
“I had a bad knee injury in my first Olympics in Rio. I’ve been getting better and better prepared each time. I still get really nervous walking out, but my brain thinks ‘badminton tournament, I’ve done this a few times’ and I think it’s OK.”
:: Raising more than £30 million every week for good causes, including vital funding for elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players help Olympians and Paralympians fulfil their dreams and make their country proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport. For more information, visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
