Feature image collage: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images // Tom Weller/VOIGT/DeFodi Images via Getty Images // Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images // Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
The 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off its razzlin’, dazzlin’, flipplin’, slidin’ 16-day event with a fireworks-heavy opening ceremony this morning in Beijing, and if you’re anything like us, you’re cheering for Team Gay, just like we did in this year’s Summmer Olympics! There are fewer participants overall in the Winter Olympics — because there’s only a third as many events in the Winter Games — which means there aren’t quite as many openly LGBTQ+ athletes to cheer for, but there’s still more than ever! When I first started writing about the Olympics back in the early aughts, the only gays were basically a handful Dutch speedskaters; now there’s seven openly gay players on Canada’s women’s hockey team alone!
Here’s a quick and handy guide on how to watch all the events (Peacock!), and below is a list of gay women Olympians and where to follow them throughout the Games. They are sorted alphabetically, by last name. Please let us know if we missed any confirmed openly queer women/NB athletes on this list!
Erin Ambrose (Canada)
Hockey
Megan Bankes (Canada)
Biathlon
Ebba Berglund (Sweden)
Hockey
Brittany Bowe (USA)
Speedskating
Belle Brockhoff (Australia)
Snowboarding
Alex Carpenter (USA)
Hockey
Emily Clark (Canada)
Hockey
Mélodie Daoust (Canada)
Hockey
Makayla Gerken Schofield (Great Britain)
Skiing
Amber Glenn (USA)
Figure Skating
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (Austria)
Ski Jumping
Brianne Jenner (Canada)
Hockey
Anna Kjellbin (Sweden)
Hockey
Aneta Lédlová (Czech Republic)
Hockey
Kim Meylemans (Belgium)
Skeleton
Sandra Naeslund (Sweden)
Skiing
Sarka Pancochova (Czech Republic)
Snowboarding
Jamie Lee Rattray (Canada)
Hockey
Jill Saulnier (Canada)
Hockey
Ronja Savolainen (Finland)
Hockey
Nicole Silveira (Brazil)
Skeleton
Ireen Wüst (Netherlands)
Speedskating
Micah Zandee-Hart (Canada)
Hockey
The quest for an Olympic lady gay curler continues !!!!
Also, I feel like snowboarding is unusually light on the gay this time around…what is happening?!
I think it’s because summer Olympics draws so many of us because of soccer/basketball.
Agreed. I remember there being more queer snowboarders previous Olympics, especially 2014, the year I started paying attention to snowboarding and all the cute women snowboarders.
Two more on Canada’s hockey team not listed here: girlfriends Marie-Philip Poulin (Canada’s captain) and Laura Stacey.
Bless you, Canada
Literally just posted this right after you. So glad to know I’m not delusional and other people see this too!
Ah, but you brought the receipts! Thank you!!
It’s shocking to me how few out players there are on the US team in comparison. It makes me think there’s pressure from the federation or something. I’m so happy that Canada’s team is so very out!
(Hockey isn’t my thing at all, but if anyone is going to get this American-living-in-Canada into hockey, it will be this Canadian team *because* it’s so gay)
Basically the whole team! lol
This happened to me for Tokyo too, but I could SWEAR there are folks I know who are queer who are not on this list.
Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey have been dating for YEARS. They may be private about their relationship but I’m almost certain they are openly queer at least? How can this not be public knowledge?! Look at these posts?! FAMILY TIME!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFZfuk0pmJP/?utm_medium=copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHYaQenJJNk/?utm_medium=copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEUPR4apdNm/?utm_medium=copy_link
Heather, in case it wasn’t clear, I’m not upset with you for leaving them off the list! I’m just surprised that either they are not publicly out or are not queer at all! This is rocking my world!
More IG posts. They cannot just be gal pals.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CU5Jp75lhL0/?utm_medium=copy_link
I’m sorry, some people get obsessive about the relationships on the USWNT, for me it’s the Canadian nations women’s hockey team. Please let me have this.
Are Marie and Laura ever gonna get married?
So what you’re saying is hockey is to the winter games as softball was to the summer games and both strive to be the WNBA of gayness. Gotcha.
Love the sports content. Is there going to be a WNBA update with all the signings and such?
Damp squib warning —
Love our queer athletes, but never forget that China has approximately 1 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim citizens locked up in camps. The state is using forced labor, forced patriotic singing, re-education, birth suppression, and physical abuse to eradicate Uyghur identity.
Hi Heather! While I love Amber Glenn as much as the next figure skating fan, she’s not competing at the Olympics. The three US women competing in singles are Karen Chen, Alysa Liu, and Mariah Bell. Incidentally, Alysa has she/they listed as her pronouns on Instagram, but I’m not sure she identifies as queer.
Amber’s a reserve!
For a definitely out non-binary figure skater at the Olympics, though, please see Timothy LeDuc!
YES! I’m rooting for everybody gay.
Ugh.. i feel like there are SO MANY lesbians on the USA ice hockey team…
Ahhhh the skeleton commentators just said Kim Meylemans and Nicole Silveira are dating EACH OTHER!!
Adding Tim Ledouc from figure skating- they’re the first non-binary ice dancer to represent USA!
Can anyone confirm if Hilary Knight is on this list? Feel like she is always low key dropping us hints without telling us.
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