These are set to be the queerest Games on record, with more than 160 openly LGBTQ+ athletes competing. According to numbers compiled by Outsports, the United States has the most out athletes at these Olympics: 30, which is one-fifth of all the out athletes attending the Games. Outsports also found that openly queer women at the Games will outnumber openly queer men by about a 8-1 margin, with women’s soccer having more than 40 openly queer players across all the countries.
While there certainly are a ton of abs at the Olympics, in 2016 one set stuck out. They were perfectly tanned and gratuitously oiled and belonged to one Pita Taufatofua. For the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he was the Tongan flag bearer. He returned for the Winter Olympics in 2018, and is back yet again in 2021. He’s also more than a pretty face...and abs..and pecs...and well, everything. He’s also a UNICEF ambassador and has competed in the Olympics in both CrossCountry skiing and Taekwondo. He hopes to become the first person to compete in 3 different Olympics in 3 different sports.
More known for his political knowledge and expertise at breaking down voter trends during election cycles, NBC host and gay journalist Steve Kornacki is also a savant when it comes to sports. The Adorkable Chartthrob’s enthusiastic skills are on display with NBC's coverage of the Tokyo Olympics, which finally kicked off this weekend after a year-long delay from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 25-year-old soccer star made history this week by becoming the first openly trans athlete to ever compete on an Olympic stage. Quinn, who is a member of the Canadian women’s soccer team, played on Wednesday in one of the first matches of the COVID-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games. In an instagram post on the National Women’s Soccer League Instagram, they said, “I don't know how to feel, I feel proud seeing 'Quinn' up on the lineup and on my accreditation. I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world.” Quinn is transgender non-binary.
