All 150+ Gay Women and Trans Athletes Competing In the 2024 Paris Olympics

Three years ago, I woke up ahead of the alarm I’d set for an early morning basketball game — early for me, not so much for the athletes in Tokyo — and turned on my television while I made some coffee. Women’s Foil was on. I don’t know what Foil is — hell, I’m still not sure what Foil is — but it was on, I was up, and I had time before basketball started so I settled into watch.

I didn’t know what was happening on my screen. I didn’t know how fencers scored or what made the fencers’ helmets light up red or green. But the more I watched, the more I gleaned about the sport. The more I watched, the more invested I became. By the end, I was yelling at my television, cheering for competitors who were strangers minutes ago, like I’d been watching Foil my entire life.

For me, that’s part of the beauty of the Olympics: the chance to discover something new and to completely get swept up in it. The Olympics are a chance to discover athletes, who have been perfecting their craft in relative obscurity, and finally give get their moment to shine. Increasingly, those athletes getting that moment in the sun are queer. According to Outsports, there will be at least 155 LGBT athletes competing at the Paris Olympics….and so, of course, as is our wont, we’ve got to pass along the scoop on who all is gay here.

If you’re looking to fawn over these gorgeous athletes support these athletes in their competitions, simply click their names to access their Olympics.com profile. It should have the most up-to-date scheduling information.


Athletics/Track & Field

Michelle-Lee Ahye (Trinidad and Tobago)

Events: 100m and 4 x 100m Relay

Ana Carolina Azevedo (Brazil)

Events: 100m and 200m

Izabela da Silva (Brazil)

Event: Discus Throw

Nikki Hitlz (United States)

Event: 1500m

Sha’Carri Richardson (United States)

Events: 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m Relay

Raven Saunders (United States)

Event: Shot Put

Senni Salminen (Finland)

Events: Triple Jump


Badminton

Kristy Gilmour (Great Britain)


Basketball

Read about the 17 gay Basketball players competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics in this post.


Beach Volleyball

Ana Patricia (Brazil)


Boxing

Hergie Bacyadan (Philippines)

Weight Class: 75kg

Beatriz “Bia” Ferreira (Brazil)

Weight Class: 60kg

Bia’s girlfriend, Ana Carolina Azevedo, will also be at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, competing in the 100m and 200m.

Kellie Harrington (Ireland)

Weight Class: 60kg

Cindy Ngamba (IOC Refugee Team)

Weight Class: 75kg

Nesthy Petecio (Philippines)

Weight Class: 57kg

Chuthamat Raksat (Thailand)

Weight Class: 50kg

Irma Testa (Italy)

Weight Class: 57kg

Michaela Walsh (Ireland)

Weight Class: 57kg

Marissa Williamson Pohlman (Australia)

Weight Class: 66kg


Canoe Slalom

Evy Leibfarth (United States)

Events: Kayak Single, Canoe Single, and Kayak Cross


Cycling: BMX Freestyle

Perris Benegas (United States)

Natalya Diehm (Australia)

Hannah Roberts (United States)


Cycling: Road

Marianne Vos (Netherlands)

Event: Road Race


Cycling: Track

Lauriane Genest (Canada)

Events: Keirin, Sprint, Team Sprint


Equestrian

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Denmark)

Events: Dressage, Individual and Team

Catherine is married to Danish Show Jumper Rasmine Laudrup-Dufour, the daughter of former professional footballer Brian Laudrup.


Fencing

Lauren Scruggs (United States)

Events: Foil Individual and Foil Team


Football

Read about the 45+ women’s soccer players competing in the 2024 Olympics in this post.


Golf

Georgia Hall (Great Britain)

Event: Individual Stroke Play

Alena Sharp (Canada)

Event: Individual Stroke Play


Handball

Barbara “Babi” Arenhart (Brazil)

Adriana Cardoso de Castro (Brazil)

Adriana is dating handball player Alba Menéndez.

Mariana Costa (Brazil)

Bruna de Paula (Brazil)

Bruna is engaged to Hungarian handball player Csenge Fodor.

Nathalie Hagman (Sweden)

Csenge Kuczora (Hungary)

Csenge Kuczora image courtesy of m4sport.hu


Hockey

Dirkie Chamberlain (South Africa)

Dirkie is dating former field hockey player and current occupational and social therapist Marieke Elizabeth de Haas.

Fiona Crackles (Great Britain)

Charlotte Englebert (Belgium)

Charlotte is dating fellow field hockey player Emma Puvrez.

Ashley Hoffman (United States)

Marleen Jochems (Netherlands)

Marleen is dating field hockey player Wendela van Dedem.

Sarah Jones (Great Britain)

Ines Lardeur (France)

Alice Lesgourgues (France)

Mathilde Petriaux (France)

Emma Puvrez (Belgium)

Emma is dating her aforementioned teammate Charlotte Englebert.

Abigail “Abi” Raye (Belgium)

Abi’s partner, Ireen van den Assem, is a Dutch field hockey player — she’s currently pregnant but will be in Paris cheering on her wife!

Anne Veenendaal (Netherlands)

Anne is dating Irish field hockey player Ayeisha McFerran.


Judo

Alice Bellandi (Italy)

Events: Mixed Team and 78kg

Amandine Buchard (France)

Events: Mixed Team and 52kg

Raz Hershko (Judo)

Events: Mixed Team and 78kg

Rafaela Silva (Brazil)

Events: Mixed Team and 57kg

Silva is married to Brazilian judoka Eleudis Valentim.

Guusje Steenhuis (Netherlands)

Events: Mixed Team and 78kg

Sanne van Dijke (Netherlands)

Events: Mixed Team and 70kg


Rowing

Nina Castagna (United States)

Event: Eight

Teal Cohen (United States)

Event: Quadruple Sculls

Alina Hagstrom (United States)

Event: Rowing (Alternate)

Grace Joyce (United States)

Event: Quadruple Sculls

Regina Salmons (United States)

Event: Eight

Tabea Schendekehl (Germany)

Event: Quadruple Sculls

Jessica Thoennes (United States)

Event: Pair

Emma Twigg (New Zealand)

Event: Single Sculls


Rugby Sevens

Olivia Apps (Canada)

Kemisetso Baloyi (South Africa)

Alysha Corrigan (Canada)

Lauren Doyle (United States)

Doyle appears to be dating rugby player Summer Jones.

Marina Fioravanti (Brazil)

Nicole Heavirland (United States)

Meg Jones (Great Britain)

Meg Jones and her partner, Celia Quansah, both competed on their rugby team in the Tokyo Olympics. Unfortunately Celia had an injury last year and thus didn’t make the team. But she’ll be there to cheer Meg on.

Jasmine Joyce (Great Britain)

Jasmine is married to rugby player Alisha Butchers.

Alev Kelter (United States)

Kayleigh Powell (Great Britain)

Steph Rovetti (United States)

Sharmi Smale Williams (Australia)

Lauren Torley (Great Britain)

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (New Zealand)

Portia is married to rugby player Renee Woodman-Wickliffe.


Sailing

Lara Vadlau (Austria)

Event: Mixed Dinghy

Lara’s dating footballer and fellow Olympian Lea Schuller!


Shooting

Jolyn Beer (Germany)

Event: 50m Rifle 3 Positions


Skateboarding

Jazmin Alvarez (Colombia)

Event: Street


Surfing

Sarah Baum (South Africa)

Tyler Wright (Australia)


Swimming

Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil)

Event: Marathon Swimming – 10km

Melanie Henique (France)

Event: 50m Freestyle


Tennis

Nadia Podoroska (Argentina)

Events: Singles and Doubles

Nadia is engaged to Argentine tennis player Guillermina Naya.

Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)

Event: Doubles


Volleyball

Anne Buijs (Netherlands)

Ana Carolina Da Silva (Brazil)

Ana is married to Dutch volleyball player Anne Elise Buijs.

Paola Egonu (Italy)

Gabriela Guimaraes (Brazil)

Rosamaria Montibeller (Brazil)

Ebrar Karakury (Türkiye)

Haleigh Washington (United States)


Wrestling

Kayla Miracle (United States)

Event: Freestyle 62kg


Do you know any other LGBT Olympians that should be featured on our list? Post your additions in the comments!

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Natalie

A black biracial, bisexual girl raised in the South, working hard to restore North Carolina's good name. Lover of sports, politics, good TV and Sonia Sotomayor. You can follow her latest rants on Twitter.

Natalie has written 418 articles for us.

14 Comments

  1. Nice to see such a long list of queer athletes! Two things about Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour though:

    1. Assuming the picture shows Cathrine’s wedding, she’s married to the daughter (not son) of that former football player.

    2. A bit like athletics, Olympic horseriding includes multiple different sports. So, much like how you put 100 m running/discus throwing/shot put/etc instead of just using the umbrella term “athletics”, you should also specify that Cathrine is a dressage rider. 🐴

  2. I’m crying, y’all. All these incredible, impressive, accomplished athletes get to perform at the top of their abilities, they get to be out, they get to be HAPPY! There’s SO. MANY. of us!!!

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