He said he had been thinking about it for two years and hearing it makes you imagine how many others are thinking about it. Coming out seems more difficult in sport than elsewhere, especially in the men’s field. Justin Laevens, a Belgian cyclist who does cyclocross, has broken down a wall by declaring in an interview that he has a partner. No one had ever done it on two wheels.
“It was a big step. I’ve been thinking about it for two years. My parents were very positive about it. I was especially afraid of the reactions runners or bigger teams, maybe they would have looked at me differently.
But I don’t think it will go like this, ”said the 19 year old who lives in the country where cycling is the national sport, a creed, almost a religion.
He was interviewed by SportNu.Be, a sports information site, on the eve of the national championships this weekend and said he had a partner for 9 months. «In the world of sport it is difficult to come out into the open. I want to be an example for all those who are still holed up in their shell, ”said the Flemish boy.
On Instagram he then posted a message: “Thanks for all your beautiful and positive messages. I hope to be an example for others. Enjoy life and be happy ».
This is what the athletes who have chosen to come out have decided to do. Most are in individual sports, especially among men. In the women’s field, on the other hand, the audience is wider. At the Olympic Games there were about fifty athletes from the LGBT front, more than double compared to the previous London games, however a small number, less than 1% of the participants in the games.
The history of sports coming out goes through Martina Navratilova, already in 1981, and Greg Louganis but he only spoke at the end of his career. Among divers like him the examples are outstanding. On the eve of Beijing 2008 Matthew Mitcham, an Australian who would win gold from the platform, said in an interview that he lived with his partner. The most famous sports coming out of all time is that of Tom Daley, one more sample from the platform. Number one in the world in 2009 at just 15 years old, he said that he was dating a man in a video, with 11 million views, on his youtube channel in December 2013.
The first gay Olympic kiss on live TV is that of Gus Kenworthy to then mate Matt Wilkas at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. There had been only for women. I am more women than men athletes who have declared their homosexual orientation. In the words of the American basketball player Seimone Augustus: “Everyone already thinks that the women’s NBA is a big lesbian party so coming out is not that hard”.
Only a few years ago the Italians arrived, better to say the Italians. The volleyball player Paola Egonu, two years ago, he said he had a girlfriend. After her he did it Elena Linari, defender of the national football team, they had been the bottom swimmer before Rachele Bruni e Nicole Bonamino, in-line hockey player. To the masculine a lot of silence.
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