ABOVE: Gabriella Papadakis (L) and Guillaume Cizeron. Photo via Instagram.
Another out gay athlete is taking home the gold at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron of France, a four-time World Champion and five-time European Champion, won the Ice Dancing competition Feb. 14 with his longtime partner, Gabriella Papadakis.
Cizeron is 27, Papadakis 26. Their almost perfect performance scored the pair an overall record 226.98 points in their world-leading win. This is a huge comeback after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, when Papadakis suffered a loss of concentration during a wardrobe malfunction. Their combined struggle to avoid embarrassment on the ice cost them the gold.
This time, their gold, red and black outfits behaved, and their nearly flawless routine won over the judges.
As reported on Feb. 8, out bisexual speedskater Irene Wüst of the Netherlands was the first out medalist in Beijing to win a medal, and it was gold. Wüst, 35, made history as the first Olympian to win an individual gold medal in 5 Winter Games. So far, according to Outsports, no other out athletes have won medals in Beijing.
But an out gay pioneer in the sport of skeleton did the next best thing: He showed Pride despite the International Olympic Committee’s ban on protests and demonstrations at the Winter Games.
Andrew Blaser, 32, was the only American male skeleton racer competing in Beijing — the first time the U.S. had sent only one. The Idaho native is also the first publicly out gay man to ever compete in the sport at the Olympics. On Feb. 10, he raced with a rainbow saddle on his sled, which Outsports reported was a surprise gift from TeamUSA bobsledder Sara Roderick.
You can see watch via YouTube:
Blaser finished 21st out of 25 racers after his two heats last week. Unfortunately, neither he nor teammates Katie Uhlaender, 37 of Colorado, or Airman Kelly Curtis took home a medal. Curtis, 33 of New Jersey, is the first Black American to compete in skeleton. The last time TeamUSA won a medal in this event was in 2014.
