The Olympics have been getting more queer over the years, but at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, not only were there close to 50 publicly out LGBTQ+ athletes, but a record number took home Olympic medals.
Out of the 49 out queer Olympians, 19 went home with a gold, silver, or bronze medal, more than at any other previous Winter Games, according to OutSports.
Team USA women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight and star players Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter all took home gold medals as part of the team that beat out Canada in a nail-biting game that went into overtime.
Bisexual alpine skier Breezy Johnson won gold for finishing first in the women’s downhill competition, after going home empty-handed at her Olympic debut in 2018.
Pansexual figure skater Amber Glenn picked up her first gold medal as part of Team USA’s Figure Skating Team Event, after becoming the first out queer woman to ever be picked for the team.
But it wasn’t just the Americans who were scooping up medals left and right. Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud took home the second gold medal of her career when she won in Milan for Women’s Slopestyle.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron won a gold medal alongside his skating partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry, and gay Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier and his partner Piper Gilles won bronze in the same competition.
Team USA might have come out on top in women’s ice hockey, but Team Canada got second place, giving queer athletes Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Emerance Maschmeyer, Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Brianne Jenner, and Daryl Watts silver medals.
Out ice hockey player Laura Zimmermann also scored a bronze medal for her role on Team Switzerland.
In all, LGBTQ+ athletes from the US, Great Britain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic all won Olympic medals at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
