Team GB’s LGBTQ+ athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics
Team GB’s Paris 2024 team features 11 out athletes including Daniel Jervis, Fiona Crackles, Tom Daley and Kayleigh Powell. (David Ramos/ Barrington Coombs/ Patrick Goosen/BSR Agency/Clive Rose/ Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
The Paris Olympic Games are set to be proudly inclusive, with more than 100 LGBTQ+ athletes participating, including 11 representing Team GB.
“Games wide open” is the slogan for Paris 2024, which officially begins on Friday (26 July), emphasising that the Olympics are for everyone. There’s also a Pride House, offering a dedicated space representing the LGBTQ+ community, while the opening ceremony has been created by queer artistic director Thomas Jolly who is aiming to make everyone feel at home.
A list compiled by Outsports and gay historian Tony Scupham-Bilton has revealed a total of 175 out athletes, featuring a record number of out male Olympians.
Despite there being fewer out athletes in Team GB this time round than in Tokyo three years ago, there is still good queer visibility, with four of the 11 out having won medals in the past.
Here are all 11.
Kirsty Gilmour, badminton
Badminton star Kirsty Gilmour won Commonwealth silver in her home city of Glasgow in 2014, becoming the first Scottish woman to reach a Commonwealth Games badminton singles final.
The double Olympian competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games and has three European Championship medals to her name. Her instagram bio is adorned with the Pride flag and she isn’t shy of sharing snaps with her girlfriend, Robyn.
Tom Daley, diving
Tom Daley needs very little introduction but has been named alongside rower Helen Glover as Team GB’s flag-bearers for the opening ceremony.
Daley will be defending his 10m platform synchronised diving title, alongside new partner Noah Williams. The LGBTQ+ star is married to Hollywood screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and they have two sons. The pair frequently share snippets of their life on social media.
Carl Hester, dressage
Carl Hester will be saddling up for his seventh Olympic Games in team dressage. His previous record is impressive having taken home gold at London 2012, silver at Rio 2016, and bronze in Tokyo.
He will ride a 14-year-old stallion called Fame this year. He is in a long-term relationship with his partner, Ben.
Sarah Jones, hockey
Field hockey star Sarah Jones won a bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago. She has scored four goals in 44 appearances for Great Britain. Her girlfriend Molly appears to be her biggest fan.
Ahead of the Paris Games, Molly dedicated a post to Sarah, writing that she’s “ridiculously proud”.
Fiona Crackles, hockey
Another field hockey player, Fiona Crackles, helped win bronze for Team GB at Tokyo 2020, when she was just 21. That was followed by Commonwealth gold in 2022. The no-nonsense defender grew up on a farm in Cumbria.
Miriam Pritchard, hockey
Field hockey goalkeeper Miriam Pritchard made her England debut in 2017. In a previous interview with Outsports she said she’s “gay and proud”. This will be her first Olympics.
Georgia Hall, golf
Golfer Georgia Hall will make her Olympic debut in Paris, where she will play alongside her best friend, Charley Hull. Appointed OBE in the 2019 Queen’s birthday honours list, she previously dated fellow golfer Ryann O’Toole.
The pair had been together since 2022 and at the time Hall said it was important to be open to help others be true to themselves.
Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, rugby sevens
Rugby sevens star Jasmine Joyce-Butcher is the first British women rugby player to be selected for three Olympic Games. She’s been capped 19 times by Wales and married international teammate Alisha Butchers in December.
Meg Jones, rugby sevens
Meg Jones, who has been open about being gay since her teens, was part of the rugby sevens team that finished fourth in Tokyo in 2021.
She co-captained the team when they won gold at the 2023 European Games, enabling the team to qualify for Paris 2024. She is dating Leicester TIgers teammate Celia Quansah, who also played for Team GB at the last Olympics.
Kayleigh Powell, rugby sevens
Full back Kayleigh Powell is one of the two reserve players brought in for the Rugby sevens.
She is dating Bristol Bears teammate Lucy Burgess. Last year, they bought a house together and share loved-up images of themselves together on social media.
Dan Jervis, swimming
Welshman Dan Jervis made his Olympic debut in Tokyo where he swam his was to fifth in the 1500m. He has won silver and bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
He came out as gay in 2022. He said he was inspired to come out publicly by Jake Daniels, the Blackpool footballer who announced he was gay aged 17, as well as by swimmer Michael Gunning.
The Olympic Games run from 26 July to 11 August.
