Team Poland’s Katarzyna Zillmann has publicly come out after claiming silver in rowing. Katarzyna and her team in the quadruple skulls finished strong and then the rower took the microphone to thank her girlfriend.
In fact, this isn’t the first time Katarzyna has come out… it was just overlooked. “The conversations with you after the medal race were not groundbreaking for me,” she said to the reporters after claiming silver. “I’ve already talked about it in interviews before, but for some reason, it wasn’t published.”
Record breaking numbers
Katarzyna is another Olympian to add to the list of record-breaking LGBT competitors in Tokyo. There are at least 181 out athletes at the games this year. That is more than triple what was recorded in Rio, 56, which got Gold for the most up until 2016. In the 2012 Olympics, there were only 23 out. In fact, the number of LGBT athletes in Tokyo is larger than all who were publicly out in every previous Olympic games: Summer and Winter combined.
“At least 30 different countries will be represented by at least one publicly out athlete in at least 34 sports,” reported Out Sports. “The United States has the most out athletes at these Olympics, with the more than 30 out athletes we know of about a fifth of all the attendees on the list. Team USA is currently followed in the number of publicly out LGBTQ athletes by Brazil (18), Canada (17), Netherlands (17), Britain (16), Australia (12) and New Zealand (10)…Women on the list outnumber men by about a 8-1 margin, with women’s soccer having more than 40 out players.”
Who knew this Olympics was predicted in 1995?
The importance of visibility
More LGBT athletes coming out means others feel more comfortable exiting the closet as well. “Competing at the Olympics as an openly gay athlete is pretty amazing,” Markus Thormeyer, Canadian swimmer, explained. The swimmer was not out when he competed at Rio in 2016, but since came out as gay in 2020. “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.”
Not only do out Olympians inspire other athletes, they also inspire the kids watching… and hopefully inspire their parents to be more accepting. Elissa Alarie, the Canadian rugby player, said to Out Sports, “Growing up in a small French town in Quebec, I didn’t know or even know of a single LGBTQ person or athlete until I was older…I hope the increased visibility can give young people a sentiment of belonging and encourage communities to be inclusive and welcoming.”
The rise in out-LGBT Olympians is explained by growing acceptance for the community – both in sports and wider society. “The rise of social media, especially Instagram, has given athletes a forum where they can live their lives openly and identify directly with their followers,” according to Out Sports. Athletes are directly exposed to the people they touch by being proud of their sexual orientation: through comments, direct messages, and shares. They now know they have world-wide support.
Katarzyna Zillman is completely aware of what coming out – again – means to LGBT people. Despite her sexual orientation not making news before, she repeated it until the world listened. “I know that in this way I will help others,” she said. “It was enough that I showed up in a T-shirt with the words ‘Sport against homophobia’ and I got a few messages from young girls practicing rowing. One of them opened up to me, described her difficult home situation to me, and confessed that I helped her a lot with my attitude. One such message is enough to completely forget about thousands of hate comments and disgusted faces.”
Lesbians have taken representation to the next level this Olympics, by making intersectional oppression visible. Raven Saunders stood up for the downtrodden when she won silver for Team USA. She lifted her arms above her head and formed an “X” across her wrists, explaining it symbolized “the intersection where all people who are oppressed meet.”
Reshaping the culture of sport
Men’s team sport has historically been associated with violent behaviour. Whether it be the concept of “locker room talk” or the fact here is a 40% increase in domestic assault during State of Origin nights, sport has been an avenue for men to unleash misogyny and homophobia. In a 2018 study, it was reported that gay men reported higher frequency of bullying in sport-related contexts than their heterosexual counterparts. It reported that gay men were much more likely to drop out of sports altogether, due to homophobia.
We hope that there is a positive cultural change by having more out-Olympians than ever before in the Tokyo Olympics. Ideally, straight people watching at home will reduce their fear of the unknown and cheer on everyone who represents their countries. The competitive nationalism that the Olympics spurs on has its faults, sure, but Olympians are dedicated athletes who are given a platform to represent marginalised people – and even advocate for political issues – on a global podium. That cannot be undervalued.
