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.
Bouchard won the team gold medal and the individual silver medal in 52 kg in Tokyo and has a strong chance of winning a medal in Paris. In the morning session of the 52 kg class, she beat Sofia Asbesta of Cyprus to reach the quarter-finals, where she will face Larissa Pimenta of Brazil. Interestingly, the current Olympic champion, Uta Abe of Japan, has already been eliminated. At the Grand Palais Ephémer, the home crowd is rooting for Bouchard, who is ranked 4th in the world, and she could make it all the way. The competition continues on Sunday.
Leibfaart is only 20 years old, but she has already made history by becoming the first American woman to qualify for the Olympic Games in three events: canoeing and kayaking. Her first event in Paris was the kayak slalom (K1), where she qualified in Saturday’s heats in fourth place overall and advanced to Sunday’s semi-finals. Three years ago in Tokyo, the Bavarian athlete narrowly missed out on qualifying for the K1 final, so in Vers-sur-Marne, her goal will undoubtedly be to make it there. The final will start at 5:45 p.m. CEST.
7pm: Tyler Wright and Sarah Baum, Surfing
It’s time for a change of pace. Head to Tahiti to watch the world’s best female shortboarders perform in the first qualifying round. Australia’s Wright is ranked in the top 10 in the World Surf League but had to undergo skull surgery for the Olympics due to balance issues. South Africa’s Baum qualified, earning the African continental spot a year ago. The waves off Te Ahupo are formidable. “The people that go out there are absolute lunatics,” says Wright. The competition continues over the next three days.
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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“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.
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.
