# List of LGBTQ Summer Olympians (1896–2000)

There are 136 modern Summer Olympic athletes, who made their Olympic debut up to and including 2000, who have identified or been identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, queer, or who have openly been in a same-sex relationship, including one who has also competed at the Winter Olympic Games. The first Olympic Games in which an athlete now known to be LGBT+ competed was the 1900 Summer Olympics, also the first LGBT+ Olympic medalist and first contemporaneously out Olympian.
The most decorated able-bodied LGBT+ Summer Olympian is Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, with 9 medals including 5 golds. At least 78 LGBT+ Summer Olympians who debuted up to and including 2000 are medalists (57.35%), of which 37 have at least one gold medal (27.21%).

## Overview

All based on the List of LGBT Summer Olympians (1896–2000)
By country :
| Country | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians |
| Country | F | M | Total |
| Australia | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Austria | 1 | — | 1 |
| Brazil | 3 | — | 3 |
| Canada | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Cuba | — | 1 | 1 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | — | 1 |
| Denmark | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Dominica | 1 | — | 1 |
| Finland | 1 | — | 1 |
| France | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Germany | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| Great Britain | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ireland | — | 1 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| New Zealand | — | 2 | 2 |
| Norway | 8 | — | 8 |
| Puerto Rico | — | 1 | 1 |
| Spain | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Sweden | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| United States | 22 | 12 | 34 |
By year :
| Games | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians |
| Games | F | M | Total |
| 1900 Summer | — | 1 | 1 |
| 1904 Summer | — | 1 | 1 |
| 1908 Summer | — | 1 | 1 |
| 1912 Summer | — | 3 | 3 |
| 1924 Summer | — | 4 | 4 |
| 1928 Summer | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 1932 Summer | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 1936 Summer | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 1948 Summer | — | 5 | 5 |
| 1952 Summer | 1 | — | 1 |
| 1956 Summer | 2 | — | 2 |
| 1960 Summer | — | 1 | 1 |
| 1964 Summer | 2 | — | 2 |
| 1968 Summer | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 1972 Summer | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1976 Summer | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 1980 Summer | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1984 Summer | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| 1988 Summer | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 1992 Summer | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| 1996 Summer | 43 | 14 | 57 |
| 2000 Summer | 43 | 24 | 67 |
By sport :
| Sport | Number of Olympians by gender | Number of Olympians by gender | Number of Olympians by gender | Number of Olympians by gender | Number of Olympians by gender |
| Sport | Female | Female | Male | Male | Total |
| Sport | Cisgender | Transgender | Cisgender | Transgender | Total |
| Athletics | 9 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 18 |
| Basketball | 6 | — | — | — | 6 |
| Beach volleyball | 2 | — | — | — | 2 |
| Boxing | — | — | 2 | — | 2 |
| Cycling | 5 | — | 1 | — | 6 |
| Diving | — | — | 7 | — | 7 |
| Equestrian | — | — | 12 | — | 12 |
| Fencing | 1 | — | 1 | — | 2 |
| Football | 24 | — | 2 | — | 26 |
| Gymnastics | 1 | — | 4 | — | 5 |
| Handball | 4 | — | — | — | 4 |
| Hockey | 7 | — | — | — | 7 |
| Judo | 4 | — | — | — | 4 |
| Rowing | 6 | — | 1 | — | 7 |
| Swimming | 5 | — | 11 | — | 16 |
| Tennis | 7 | — | 1 | — | 8 |
| Triathlon | — | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Volleyball | 4 | — | — | — | 4 |

### Notes

* ↑ Including Czechoslovakia
* ↑ Including Weimar Republic, West Germany and East Germany
* ↑ Hege Riise represented Norway up to 2000, and Great Britain in 2020. She is only counted for Norway in this table.
* ↑ Including multi-year appearances of the same Olympian.
* ↑ Including multi-disciplinary Olympians
* ↑ Competed in a men's category
* ↑ Competed in a women's category

## Key

Δ Was known to be widely out prior to their most recent Olympic competition; contemporaneously out while competing
† Came out after competing
‡ Posthumously identified as LGBT+
* Tables are default sorted by first Games appearance chronologically, then current surname or common nickname alphabetically, then first name alphabetically. They can be sorted by current surname (where used) or common nickname alphabetically; by country and sport alphabetically; by Games chronologically; and by medals as organised in Olympics medals tables.

## Summer Olympic athletes and coaches (1900–2000)

* 1900
* 1904
* 1908
* 1912
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
| Athlete | Country | Sport | Games | Notes |
| Robert de Montesquiou Δ | France | Equestrian | 1900 | Montesquiou was a "notorious homosexual", with this influence discussed, though he may have lived a chaste life. He won a bronze medal in the Hacks and hunter combined equestrian event in 1900; prior to 1996, the event was not consistently considered to have been truly Olympic, but is since included. Around the time of his Games appearance in 1900, Montesquiou was noted to feel stifled by the aristocracy he had been born into, which was "fundamentally conservative". |
| George Poage ‡ | United States | Athletics | 1904 | The first African-American Olympic medalist, Poage was also gay. Black activists wanted a boycott of the 1904 Games in which Poage competed, as crowds would be segregated in St. Louis, but Poage felt it important that he compete. After his success, he moved to the city to teach; though rumors of him being gay were prevalent, and may be the reason he was fired from his teaching job, it was only confirmed by family after his death. |
| Niels Bukh † | Denmark | Gymnastics | 1908, 1912 | Bukh was selected to the 1908 Olympic team, but did not compete, and then was coach of the gold-medal winning 1912 gymnastics team. He was out, though not widely; he was outed internationally by a former partner after expressing support for the Nazis. In part, his support came from Adolf Hitler being a personal fan and inviting Bukh to be part of his propaganda (displaying the ideal male aesthetic) for the 1936 Games in Berlin. His biographers suggest that, despite his support for the party; the German occupation of Denmark; and the outing, Bukh never knew of the Nazi stance on homosexuality. |
| Leif Rovsing | Denmark | Tennis | 1912 | Rovsing was openly gay within his sport and this was accepted; the Danish Football Association, which administed tennis at the time, however, felt his sexuality was at conflict with the working-class ideals of their sport, and in 1917 used evidence of other men visiting Rovsing's home to ban him from competing. The ban was rescinded but reinstated in the 1920s, saying that his "opinions and conduct" were the reason for the ban, which then extended to being excluded from some locker and shower rooms. |
| Fritzi Löwy | Austria | Swimming | 1928 | Described as "reportedly bisexual" during her career, Löwy remained unmarried. |
| Otto Peltzer † | Germany (Weimar Republic) | Athletics | 1928, 1932 | Peltzer was openly gay, though this was not widely known. In the 1930s, he was arrested by the Nazis for his homosexuality. Sentenced to 18 months in prison, he was released early on the condition that he renounce his involvement in sports. He did but, ultimately, was imprisoned in Mauthausen concentration camp until its liberation in 1945. |
| Babe Didrikson Zaharias † | United States | Athletics | 1932 | Won two gold medals and one silver medal in one Olympic Games. Though she did not identify her sexuality, Didrikson Zaharias was described as a lesbian. As her marriage deteriorated in the 1950s, she became intimate with Betty Dodd, who moved into Didrikson's home towards the end of her life. |
| Helen Stephens ‡ | United States | Athletics | 1936 | Stephens had a long-time female partner. At the 1936 Games, she and rival Stella Walsh were accused of being men. Rudimentary sex verification checks were carried out; Stephens reported that Hitler himself "[took] hold of [her] fanny" to affirm she was a woman, which she was (an autopsy would show that Walsh was intersex). |
| Marjorie Larney | United States | Athletics | 1952, 1956 | |
| Susan McGreivy † | United States | Swimming | 1956 | Following her Olympics competition, McGreivy became a lesbian activist. She also helped to defend the Gay Games in front of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. |
| Norman Elder † | Canada | Equestrian | 1960, 1968 | Elder was known to be gay within his community for many years but was widely outed in the 1990s after being charged with indecent assault allegations relating to instances of gay sex in the 1970s. After serving a prison sentence, he fell into poverty and subsequently killed himself in 2003. |
| Marion Lay † | Canada | Swimming | 1964, 1968 | Lay competed in two Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 1968. After competing, Lay came out as a lesbian, and has contributed to supporting LGBT issues in sport, including organizing Pride Houses. |
| Karin Büttner-Janz | East Germany | Gymnastics | 1968, 1972 | |
| Mason Phelps Jr. | United States | Equestrian | 1968 | Selected as an alternate. |
| Tom Waddell † | United States | Athletics | 1968 | Several years after competing at the Olympic Games, Waddell founded the "Gay Olympics", renamed the Gay Games. He died of AIDS shortly after this. |
| Mark Chatfield † | United States | Swimming | 1972 | Chatfield came out after retiring from sport, saying he remained closeted for fear of being removed from the team, and then unretired to compete in the Gay Games in 1994. |
| Peter Prijdekker | Netherlands | Swimming | 1972 | As well as the Olympics, Prijdekker competed at the Gay Games for Great Britain, having previously been banned from his swim team after his partner died of AIDS. |
| Betty Baxter † | Canada | Volleyball | 1976 | After competing, Baxter became a volleyball coach, but was fired when newspapers outed her as a lesbian. She then helped to organize the Gay Games. |
| Scott Cranham † | Canada | Diving | 1976 | Cranham came out after his Olympic career, and went on to compete at Gay Games. |
| Caitlyn Jenner † | United States | Athletics | 1976 | Jenner won the men's decathlon in 1976 before becoming a reality star; when she came out in 2015, she became one of the highest profile transgender individuals. She advocates to prevent trans women from taking part in sports at all levels. |
| Sandra Kirby † | Canada | Rowing | 1976 | After competing at the Olympics, Kirby started campaigning against female athletes all having to have chromosomal testing in order to compete. She then became a researcher of gender and homophobia in sports, and came out after becoming a professor. |
| Nancy Lieberman † | United States | Basketball | 1976 | Previously dated Martina Navratilova, but stayed closeted even as Navratilova came out. |
| Greg Louganis † | United States | Diving | 1976, 1984, 1988 | Though he had been living a fairly openly gay life, Louganis publicly came out with a pre-taped video shown at the 1994 Gay Games. A year later, he announced he was HIV-positive in his memoir, Breaking the Surface. In 1984 and 1988, Louganis won gold medals in both diving events, having won platform silver in 1976; he famously hit his head on the diving board in 1988, bleeding, shortly after being diagnosed as HIV-positive, a scenario he said left him "paralyzed with fear". |
| Gail Marquis † | United States | Basketball | 1976 | Married a woman in 2011. |
| Olivier Rouyer † | France | Football | 1976 | A member of the French football squad, Rouyer came out as gay after retiring from both playing and coaching. |
| Terence Etherton | Great Britain | Fencing | 1980 | Etherton was named to the team in 1980 but chose to boycott. |
| Rafael Polinario | Cuba | Swimming | 1980 | After competing, Polinario sought asylum in Canada and became a coach for their Paralympic swimming team, particularly his daughter, Anne Polinario. |
| Jackie Silva | Brazil | Volleyball, Beach volleyball | 1980, 1984, 1996 | Competed in volleyball in 1980 and 1984, and won gold in the inaugural beach volleyball competition in 1996. |
| Sabine Braun | West Germany / Germany | Athletics | 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 | Braun is openly lesbian and lives with Beate Peters. |
| Sherry Cassuto | United States | Rowing | 1984, 1988 | An alternate in the 1984 Olympics, Cassuto competed in 1988. |
| Robert Dover Δ | United States | Equestrian | 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | Known as the first widely out Summer Olympian, Dover came out before competing in his second Games in 1988. In 2004, he told reporters that there were many more gay athletes than were out at the Games, suggesting they were closeted just because they were more focused on sport. |
| Greg Duhaime Δ | Canada | Athletics | 1984 | Duhaime was openly gay. |
| Gigi Fernández Δ | United States | Tennis | 1984, 1992, 1996 | Though Puerto Rican, Fernández competed for the United States at the Olympics. She came out in 1993 and has been with partner Jane Geddes since the 1990s. |
| Ginny Gilder | United States | Rowing | 1984 | |
| Bruce Hayes | United States | Swimming | 1984 | Hayes became the first Olympic gold medalist to compete at the Gay Games, which he did in 1990. |
| Zoe MacKinnon | Canada | Hockey | 1984 | |
| Holly Metcalf † | United States | Rowing | 1984 | |
| Beate Peters | West Germany | Athletics | 1984, 1988 | Peters is openly lesbian and lives with Sabine Braun. |
| Helena Åberg Δ | Sweden | Swimming | 1988 | Åberg's coach was unhappy when she publicly came out in the 1980s, but they reconciled and went on to work together in training for the Olympics. |
| Mark Foster † | Great Britain | Swimming | 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008 | Came out widely in 2017. |
| Colin Jackson † | Great Britain | Athletics | 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 | Jackson denied he was gay in a 2004 autobiography, and again in 2008, before coming out in 2017. |
| Patrick Jeffrey Δ | United States | Diving | 1988, 1996 | Jeffrey came out between his Olympic appearances, competing openly in 1996. |
| Brian Marshall † | Canada | Athletics | 1988 | Came out in 1994. |
| Ana Moser | Brazil | Volleyball | 1988, 1992, 1996 | Moser became a politician after her sports career; as of 2023 she has a wife. |
| Jana Novotná | Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic | Tennis | 1988, 1992, 1996 | Lived with partner Iwona Kuczyńska from 2010 until Novotná's death in 2017. |
| Inger Pors Olsen | Denmark | Rowing | 1988, 1996 | |
| Craig Rogerson Δ | Australia | Diving | 1988, 1992, 1996 | Rogerson was out when he first competed in 1988. |
| Petra Rossner Δ | East Germany / Germany | Cycling | 1988, 1992, 2000 | She began living with then-partner Judith Arndt in 1996. |
| Mark Tewksbury † | Canada | Swimming | 1988, 1992 | A year after his last Olympics, in 1993, Tewksbury anonymously came out on a Canadian radio show discussing homophobia in sport. He publicly came out in 1998. |
| Dan Veatch † | United States | Swimming | 1988 | Veatch said that, when he went to the Olympics in 1988, he both had not personally dealt with his sexuality, and felt there would have been a lot of pressure to come out as gay as a top-level athlete. He went on to compete at the 1998 Gay Games. |
| Alyson Annan Δ | Australia / Netherlands / China | Hockey | 1992, 1996, 2000, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 | Competed as a player for Australia from 1992 to 2000, winning two golds; as coach for the Netherlands from 2012 to 2020, winning two golds and a silver; and coach for China in 2024. She was also the team manager of the Netherlands squad in 2004, when they won a silver medal. At the 2000 Olympics she met her future wife, Dutch player Carole Thate. |
| Miriam Blasco | Spain | Judo | 1992 | Married Nicola Fairbrother, her opponent in her Olympic gold medal match, in 2016. |
| Irene de Kok | Netherlands | Judo | 1992 | |
| Lin Dunn | United States | Basketball | 1992 | As coach. |
| Nicola Fairbrother | Great Britain | Judo | 1992, 1996 | Married Miriam Blasco, her opponent in her Olympic gold medal match, in 2016. |
| Lawrence Keith Frostad † | United States | Swimming | 1992 | Came out in 2022, saying he had experienced homophobia as part of the national team. |
| Carl Hester Δ | Great Britain | Equestrian | 1992, 2000, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 | Hester has competed at seven Summer Olympics, and has been publicly out as gay since before his fourth Olympics, at home in the UK. |
| Mark Leduc † | Canada | Boxing | 1992 | Leduc spoke anonymously about being gay and an Olympian on a Canadian radio show in 1993, before coming out publicly in 1994. |
| Conchita Martínez Δ | Spain | Tennis | 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | Was in a relationship with Gigi Fernández in the 1990s. |
| Marnie McBean † | Canada | Rowing | 1992, 1996 | McBean began coming out within her personal life after competing. |
| Enrique Sarasola Jr. † | Spain | Equestrian | 1992, 1996, 2000 | |
| Blyth Tait Δ | New Zealand | Equestrian | 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | Competed at four Summer Olympics as an athlete, and as eventing manager in 2008; he was publicly out before the 2004 Games. |
| Carole Thate Δ | Netherlands | Hockey | 1992, 1996, 2000 | Out by the 2000 Olympics, where she met her future wife, Australian opponent Alyson Annan. |
| Anja Andersen Δ | Denmark | Handball | 1996 | Had a relationship with teammate Camilla Andersen at the time of the 1996 Games. |
| Camilla Andersen Δ | Denmark | Handball | 1996, 2000 | Entered a civil partnership with Norwegian opponent Mia Hundvin shortly before the 2000 Games; they were the first spouses to directly compete against each other at the Olympics. |
| Judith Arndt Δ | Germany | Cycling | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | She began living with then-partner Petra Rossner in 1996. |
| Jennifer Azzi † | United States | Basketball | 1996 | Came out widely in 2016 when introducing fellow gay basketball executive Rick Welts at an event. |
| Kajsa Bergqvist † | Sweden | Athletics | 1996, 2000 | Came out as bisexual in 2011. |
| Kris Burley | Canada | Gymnastics | 1996 | Burley is a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee's program to combat homophobia in sport. |
| Agnete Carlsen | Norway | Football | 1996 | Entered a registered partnership with teammate Heidi Støre in 1999. |
| Natalie Cook Δ | Australia | Beach volleyball | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | Married a woman in 2008. |
| Amanda Cromwell | United States | Football | 1996 | Married a woman in 2022. Won the event as part of the team, but did not play. |
| Michelle Ferris † | Australia | Cycling | 1996, 2000 | Was widely out before 2011, when The Age wrote that she had been the first out Australian elite sportswoman; at the time, she explained that if she had ever been asked about her sexuality when competing she would have been out, and did not bring it up herself as she felt it was unrelated to her sport. She also said that her sexuality was known at the time she was competing, she just did not talk about it publicly. |
| Formiga Δ | Brazil | Football | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 | Widely out by the 2020 Games. |
| Louise Hansen | Denmark | Football | 1996 | Widely out by 2008, when she was in a relationship with Renate Lingor. Was part of the squad but did not play. |
| Tone Haugen | Norway | Football | 1996 | Also competed in the 2002 Gay Games. |
| Tiia Hautala † | Finland | Athletics | 1996, 2000, 2004 | Came out in 2013. |
| Billie Jean King Δ | United States | Tennis | 1996, 2000 | King was outed by an ex-partner in a lawsuit in 1981, ultimately forcing her retirement in 1983; she did not get a chance to play at the Olympics but did coach the United States women's tennis team to two gold medals, and in 2003 was awarded the International Olympic Committee Women and Sport World Trophy. In 2013, Barack Obama named her to the US delegation for the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in Sochi, as a statement against Russia's homophobic laws. |
| Daniel Kowalski † | Australia | Swimming | 1996, 2000 | Came out in 2010. |
| Katja Kraus | Germany | Football | 1996 | Unused substitute. Married to politician Katrin Suder. |
| Renate Lingor Δ | Germany | Football | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | Widely out by 2008, when she was in a relationship with Louise Hansen. |
| Linda Medalen † | Norway | Football | 1996 | Came out in 1999. |
| Ioannis Melissanidis Δ | Greece | Gymnastics | 1996, 2000 | Came out in 1996. Reportedly the first openly gay Greek modern Olympian to win a gold medal. |
| Sandra Minnert | Germany | Football | 1996, 2000, 2004 | |
| Bente Nordby † | Norway | Football | 1996, 2000 | Came out in 2005. |
| Graeme Obree † | Great Britain | Cycling | 1996 | |
| David Pichler Δ | United States | Diving | 1996, 2000 | Came out publicly shortly before his Olympic debut in 1996, in an interview at the US trials, when he accused the national coach of being out to get him and his boyfriend. |
| Hege Riise Δ | Norway / Great Britain | Football | 1996, 2000, 2020 | |
| Danni Roche | Australia | Hockey | 1996 | |
| Briana Scurry Δ | United States | Football | 1996, 2000, 2004 | Widely out by 1999. |
| Guenter Seidel Δ | Germany | Equestrian | 1996, 2000, 2004 | Was widely out before 2004. |
| Reidun Seth | Norway | Football | 1996 | Also competed in the 2002 Gay Games. |
| Jimmy Sjödin | Sweden | Diving | 1996 | |
| Heidi Støre | Norway | Football | 1996 | Entered a registered partnership with teammate Agnete Carlsen in 1999. |
| Rennae Stubbs Δ | Australia | Tennis | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | Came out publicly in 2006. |
| Pia Sundhage Δ | Sweden / United States / Brazil | Football | 1996, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 | Competed as a player for Sweden in 1996, the coach of the Sweden women's team in 2016, the coach of the United States women's team in 2008 and 2012, and the coach of the Brazil women's team in 2020. She came out in 2010, saying that she experienced no homophobia in the United States. |
| Sheryl Swoopes † | United States | Basketball | 1996, 2000, 2004 | Swoopes came out as gay in 2005, and lived with a female partner for six years. She has twice married men. |
| Lena Videkull | Sweden | Football | 1996 | |
| Lisa-Marie Vizaniari Δ | Australia | Athletics | 1996, 2000 | Vizaniari was widely out prior to the 2000 Olympics. |
| Martina Voss-Tecklenburg | Germany | Football | 1996 | Had a relationship with Inka Grings that ended in 2000. |
| Saskia Webber | United States | Football | 1996 | Webber was an alternate goalkeeper for the team. She has also played at the Gay Games. |
| Francilla Agar Δ | Dominica | Swimming | 2000 | Agar is openly lesbian and resides in Canada, saying at the time of her Games that she sometimes avoided going back to Dominica due to the attitude of the wider community. |
| Marilyn Agliotti Δ | Netherlands | Hockey | 2000, 2008, 2012 | Came out publicly in 2011. |
| Nadine Angerer † | Germany | Football | 2000, 2004, 2008 | Angerer won her first two bronze medals as reserve goalkeeper without playing a match; she was the main goalkeeper in 2008 when she won her third bronze. She came out in 2010. |
| Carl Blasco Δ | France | Triathlon | 2000, 2004 | Came out shortly before the 2000 Olympics. |
| Balian Buschbaum † | Germany | Athletics | 2000 | Competed in women's events and came out as a transgender man in 2007, retiring early in order to undergo hormone treatment and transition. He continued to coach until 2013. |
| Robert Costello | United States | Equestrian | 2000 | |
| Orlando Cruz † | Puerto Rico | Boxing | 2000 | Came out widely in 2012. |
| Eleni Daniilidou | Greece | Tennis | 2000, 2004, 2008 | |
| Imke Duplitzer Δ | Germany | Fencing | 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | Came out before 2004 Games. |
| Inka Grings | Germany | Football | 2000 | Grings is openly bisexual, and has had a relationship with Linda Bresonik. |
| Peter Häggström † | Sweden | Athletics | 2000 | Came out in 2009. |
| Mathew Helm Δ | Australia | Diving | 2000, 2004, 2008 | Helm achieved both his medals at the 2004 Games. He was widely out when competing. |
| Kelly Holmes † | Great Britain | Athletics | 2000, 2004 | Holmes came out in 2022, at the time describing her fears of being reprimanded by the military (which she had been in prior to her sporting career) if she came out earlier, as well as worrying about isolation in the sporting community as she did not know any out sportspeople when she was competing. LGBT+ campaigners noted that her interview highlighted how in 2022 there were still barriers to coming out. |
| Mia Hundvin Δ | Norway | Handball | 2000 | Entered a civil partnership with Danish opponent Camilla Andersen shortly before the 2000 Games; they were the first spouses to directly compete against each other at the Olympics. They separated three years later; Hundvin has since had relationships with men. |
| Juan Antonio Jiménez Δ | Spain | Equestrian | 2000, 2004, 2024 | |
| Steffi Jones † | Germany | Football | 2000, 2004 | Came out in 2013. |
| Johan Kenkhuis Δ | Netherlands | Swimming | 2000, 2004 | Kenkhuis was widely out prior to the 2004 Games. |
| Lotte Kiærskou Δ | Denmark | Handball | 2000, 2004 | Began openly dating Rikke Skov when Skov joined the Viborg HK handball team in 2003; they split in 2011. |
| Stephen Laybutt † | Australia | Football | 2000 | Came out after his playing career. |
| Amélie Mauresmo Δ | France | Tennis | 2000, 2004 | Came out in 1999, aged 19, upon defeating the world number 1 at the Australian Open, attributing her success to accepting her sexuality. |
| Lauren Meece † | United States | Judo | 2000 | Meece came out after competing. She then wrote an op-ed saying that Olympians should not be made to be gay role models, saying that she never needed a gay sporting role model (so this and other reasons athletes have come out are "cop outs" covering "ulterior motives"), and that pride and "gay politics" have no place at the Olympics, after having seen Edinanci Silva harassed about being intersex. |
| Paul O'Brien | New Zealand | Equestrian | 2000 | |
| Helen Richardson-Walsh Δ | Great Britain | Hockey | 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 | Helen Richardson and Kate Walsh met on the Great Britain hockey team and started dating in 2008. They married in 2013 and, in 2016, became the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic gold medal together. |
| Kate Richardson-Walsh Δ | Great Britain | Hockey | 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 | Helen Richardson and Kate Walsh met on the Great Britain hockey team and started dating in 2008. They married in 2013 and, in 2016, became the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic gold medal together. |
| Cheryl Salisbury | Australia | Football | 2000, 2004 | |
| Victoria Sandell Svensson Δ | Sweden | Football | 2000, 2004, 2008 | Widely out prior to the 2008 Games. Her sister-in-law is teammate Cecilia Sandell. |
| Therese Sjögran | Sweden | Football | 2000, 2004, 2008 | Has been in a relationship with Malin Levenstad. |
| Stacy Sykora † | United States | Volleyball | 2000, 2004, 2008 | Came out widely in 2012. |
| Arjen Teeuwissen Δ | Netherlands | Equestrian | 2000 | Was widely out prior to competing. |
| Ina-Yoko Teutenberg Δ | Germany | Cycling | 2000, 2012 | Came out in 2012. |
| Ian Thorpe † | Australia | Swimming | 2000, 2004 | Thorpe came out as gay in 2014, having often denied this earlier in his career. Later that year he gave a Q&A hosted by the International Olympic Committee in which he discussed challenges he faced in swimming because of his sexuality. |
| Gearoid Towey | Ireland | Rowing | 2000, 2004, 2008 | |
| Ji Wallace † | Australia | Gymnastics | 2000 | Came out in 2005, revealed he has HIV in 2012. |
| Natalie Williams | United States | Basketball | 2000 | |
| Chris Witty | United States | Cycling | 2000 | Witty has competed in both Summer and Winter Olympics; she was a flagbearer at her last Games in 2006. She has only won medals in speed skating. With her gold in 2002, she also set a world record. She lives with partner and fellow former speed skater Frouke Oonk. |