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LGBTQrepresentation won big at theTokyo Olympics.
Additionally, at least 56 of the out athletes competing in Tokyo this year won medals, theoutlet reported.
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Some of the out gold medalists included Canadian women’s soccer team members Quinn, Kadeisha Buchanan, Erin McLeod, Kailen Sheridan and Stephanie Labbe, Irish boxer Kellie Harrington, U.S. women’s basketball team members Sue Bird, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi and British diver Tom Daley.
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“I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion,” Daley, 27, told reporters after he won in the 10m platform, perNPR. “When I was younger, I didn’t think I’d ever achieve anything because of who I was. To be an Olympic champion now just shows that you can achieve anything.”
Featherweight boxer Nesthy Petecio echoed similar sentiments after earning silver for the Philippines. “I am proud to be part of the LGBTQ community,” she said, according to thePhilippine Daily Inquirer. “Let’s go, fight! This fight is also for the LGBTQ community.”
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“I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world,” they shared in July. “I feel optimistic for change. Change in legislature. Changes in rules, structures, and mindsets.”
Opening up about “getting messages from young people saying they’ve never seen a trans person in sports before,” Quinn told theCanadian Broadcasting Corp.that “athletics is the most exciting part of my life. … If I can allow kids to play the sports they love, that’s my legacy and that’s what I’m here for.”
source: people.com
