Ten out gay Olympians win gold at London 2012 Games

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

Ten openly LGBT Olympians have taken home gold from the London 2012 Games. If they were a team, they would have tied with Mexico and Ethiopia in total medals.

Cyd Ziegler, founder of outsports.com said: “If ‘Team Gay’ was a country, it would have finished 31st overall with seven medals, tied with Mexico, Ethiopia and Georgia.

“They would have beaten the medal count of such countries as Jamaica, Ireland, Argentina and India. They would have finished 21st overall for most golds (four), tied with Iran, Jamaica, Czech Republic and Korea.”

Those who won gold included: Seimone Augustus (US Women’s Basketball); Carl Hester (GB, Equestrian), Megan Rapinoe (USA, Women’s Soccer), and several members of the Dutch women’s hockey team.

Judith Arnt took silver for Germany in cycling and bronze winners were Edward Gal (Netherlands, Equestrian) and Lisa Raymond (USA, Tennis).

Gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, who had previously been adamant that London 2012 would be his final Olympics, has since changed his mind after coming 13th in the diving semi-finals, and has declared his intent to participate at the games in Rio 2016.

The 24-year-old recently told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Before coming to London, I’d pretty much decided that this was going to be my last Olympics. I was going to retire, just because of all the injuries and everything.

According to outsports.com 58 per cent of all openly gay, lesbian or intersex Olympians have won medals over the years.