# List of LGBTQ Winter Olympians

There have been 101 modern Winter Olympians who have identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, queer, or who have openly been in a same-sex relationship, including two who have also competed at the Summer Olympic Games. The first Winter Olympic Games in which an athlete now known to be LGBT+ competed was the 1956 Winter Olympics.
The most decorated able-bodied LGBT+ Olympian is Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, with 13 medals including 6 golds; Wüst also holds Olympic records. At least 56 LGBT+ Winter Olympians are medalists (55.45% of LGBT+ Winter Olympians), of which 31 have at least one gold medal (30.69%).

## Overview

All based on the List of LGBT Winter Olympians
By country :
| Country | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians |
| Country | F | M | NB | Total |
| Armenia | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Australia | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Austria | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| Belgium | 2 | 1 | — | 3 |
| Brazil | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Canada | 20 | 9 | — | 29 |
| Czech Republic | 2 | 1 | — | 3 |
| Estonia | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Finland | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| France | — | 2 | — | 2 |
| Germany | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Great Britain | 1 | 5 | — | 6 |
| Italy | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Netherlands | 4 | — | — | 4 |
| New Zealand | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Norway | 3 | — | — | 3 |
| ROC | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Spain | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Sweden | 7 | — | — | 7 |
| Switzerland | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| United States | 17 | 13 | 1 | 31 |
By year :
| Games | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians | Number of Olympians |
| Games | F | M | NB | Total |
| 1956 Winter | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| 1964 Winter | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| 1972 Winter | — | 2 | — | 2 |
| 1976 Winter | — | 4 | — | 4 |
| 1980 Winter | — | 3 | — | 3 |
| 1984 Winter | 1 | 3 | — | 4 |
| 1988 Winter | 1 | 3 | — | 4 |
| 1992 Winter | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| 1994 Winter | 3 | 1 | — | 4 |
| 1998 Winter | 8 | — | — | 8 |
| 2002 Winter | 12 | 2 | — | 14 |
| 2006 Winter | 15 | 4 | — | 19 |
| 2010 Winter | 22 | 7 | — | 29 |
| 2014 Winter | 27 | 6 | — | 33 |
| 2018 Winter | 29 | 8 | — | 37 |
| 2022 Winter | 29 | 11 | 1 | 41 |
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 | Number of Olympians by gender | Number of Olympians by gender | Number of Olympians by gender |
| Sport | Female | Female | Female | Male | Male | Male | Non-binary | Total |
| Sport | Cisgender | Transgender | Intersex | Cisgender | Transgender | Intersex | Non-binary | Total |
| Alpine skiing | 3 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 4 |
| Biathlon | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| Bobsleigh | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 2 |
| Cross-country skiing | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| Curling | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| Figure skating | 4 | — | — | 26 | — | — | 1 | 31 |
| Freestyle skiing | 4 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 5 |
| Ice hockey | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31 |
| Luge | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| Skeleton | 4 | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | 6 |
| Ski jumping | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 2 |
| Snowboarding | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 |
| Speed skating | 7 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 8 |

### Notes

* ↑ Including Czechoslovakia
* 1 2 Natalia Zabiiako represented both Estonia and the independent athletes from Russia, and is counted for both.
* 1 2 Gus Kenworthy represented both Great Britain and the United States, and is counted for both.
* ↑ Including the Olympic Athletes from Russia
* ↑ Including multi-year appearances of the same Olympian.
* ↑ Including multi-disciplinary Olympians
* ↑ Competed in a men's category

## Key

Δ Was known to be widely out prior to their most recent Winter 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.

## Winter Olympic athletes

* 1956
* 1964
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1992
* 1994
* 1998
* 2002
* 2006
* 2010
* 2014
* 2018
* 2022
| Athlete | Country | Sport | Games | Notes |
| Ronald Robertson † | United States | Figure skating | 1956 | Robertson was openly gay in his personal life. He won a silver medal at the Olympics, and semi-retired the following year to open a hotel with his partner, actor Tab Hunter. |
| Ondrej Nepela ‡ | Czechoslovakia | Figure skating | 1964, 1972 | Nepela competed at two Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in 1972. He was gay and, in 1973, had a brief relationship with Canadian figure skater Toller Cranston. In 1989 he died from complications relating to AIDS. |
| Toller Cranston † | Canada | Figure skating | 1972, 1976 | Cranston competed at two Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in 1976. In his 2000 autobiography, he noted a fling with Slovak skater Ondrej Nepela, as well as short affairs with women. |
| Robin Cousins | Great Britain | Figure skating | 1976, 1980 | |
| John Curry Δ | Great Britain | Figure skating | 1976 | Curry won the gold medal at his Olympic Games, a few days after being outed in a magazine which had interviewed him; there are conflicting reports about whether Curry intended to come out. He confirmed his sexuality (gay) in press interviews upon winning. The BBC have reported that Curry had believed he had spoken to the initial reporter off the record, and that the outing and having to give the press conference afterwards affected him greatly. He died of complications relating to AIDS in 1994; after Curry announced he had AIDS in 1992, revelations of other skaters who had died from the disease were made, and figure skating associations began providing AIDS education to its athletes. Known as the first publicly out Olympic athlete, and first out sports star; while the public knew of his sexuality, besides a brief scandal, they did not seem to care. |
| Randy Gardner † | United States | Figure skating | 1976, 1980 | Gardner competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics, and withdrew from the 1980 Games. He came out in 2006. |
| Brian Pockar ‡ | Canada | Figure skating | 1980 | Pockar died of AIDS in 1992, and was outed in 1999 by Scott Hamilton. |
| Brian Boitano † | United States | Figure skating | 1984, 1988, 1994 | Came out in 2013 after being named to the delegation at the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia; the location was being criticized for its homophobia. |
| Edel Therese Høiseth | Norway | Speed skating | 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998 | |
| Robert McCall ‡ | Canada | Figure skating | 1984, 1988 | Won bronze with Tracy Wilson in 1988. He died from AIDS in 1991. Other athletes said that his homosexuality had been an open secret within their community. |
| Brian Orser † | Canada | Figure skating | 1984, 1988 | Orser was outed in 1998 as part of a lawsuit involving a former partner that was made public. After competing, he has coached Olympic skating champions. |
| Joan Guetschow Δ | United States | Biathlon | 1992, 1994 | While Guetschow was publicly out as a lesbian and accepted by her teammates, she felt the team management discriminated against her. |
| Chris Witty | United States | Speed skating | 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 | 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. |
| Nancy Drolet Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 1998 | Drolet and her wife began living together in 1995. |
| Jayna Hefford Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 | Was with her partner, Kathleen Kauth, prior to 2014 Games. |
| Stine Brun Kjeldaas | Norway | Snowboarding | 1998, 2002 | Previously married to Cheryl Maas. |
| Angela Ruggiero | United States | Ice hockey | 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 | Competed at four Winter Olympics, medalling in each. After competing, Ruggiero was a member of the International Olympic Committee, from 2010 to 2018, and served as a member of the executive board of the IOC after being elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide, from 2016 to 2018. |
| Stacy Wilson | Canada | Ice hockey | 1998 | |
| Marieke Wijsman | Netherlands | Speed skating | 1998, 2002 | |
| Julie Chu | United States | Ice hockey | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 | Married to Canadian ice hockey player Caroline Ouellette; the two competed against each other in Olympic finals on three occasions. Chu was a flagbearer in 2014. |
| Timothy Goebel † | United States | Figure skating | 2002 | Goebel was not known to be out when he competed. |
| Erika Holst Δ | Sweden | Ice hockey | 2002, 2006, 2010 | Was widely out before 2010. |
| Ylva Lindberg † | Sweden | Ice hockey | 2002, 2006 | Came out after the Olympics in 2006. |
| Caroline Ouellette | Canada | Ice hockey | 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 | Married to American ice hockey player Julie Chu; the two competed against each other in Olympic finals on three occasions. |
| Anja Pärson † | Sweden | Alpine skiing | 2002, 2006, 2010 | Came out in 2012. |
| Matthew Savoie | United States | Figure skating | 2002, 2006 | Was an alternate in 2002 and competed in 2006. Married a man in 2012. |
| Vibeke Skofterud Δ | Norway | Cross-country skiing | 2002, 2010 | Came out in 2008. |
| Tricia Stumpf Δ | United States | Skeleton | 2002 | Selected to the team but was unable to compete due to injury. Married longtime partner Joan Guetschow in 2004, they ran a small beer business together at the 2002 Olympics. |
| Gillian Apps | Canada | Ice hockey | 2006, 2010, 2014 | Married American ice hockey player Meghan Duggan in September 2018; they had competed against each other in the final of the 2010 and 2014 Games. |
| Jeffrey Buttle † | Canada | Figure skating | 2006 | Was not known to be gay when competing, was widely out by 2014. |
| Caitlin Cahow | United States | Ice hockey | 2006, 2010 | Cahow is openly lesbian and was named to the 2014 United States delegation with Brian Boitano and Billie Jean King; selected by Barack Obama, the all-gay delegation was seen as deliberately provocative to make a statement about holding the Olympics in a homophobic nation. |
| Kathleen Kauth | United States | Ice hockey | 2006 | Has been in a relationship with Jayna Hefford. |
| Charline Labonté † | Canada | Ice hockey | 2006, 2010, 2014 | Came out after the Games in 2014. |
| Cheryl Maas Δ | Netherlands | Snowboarding | 2006, 2014, 2018 | Previously married to Stine Brun Kjeldaas. Before competing in 2014, she criticised the IOC for allowing a homophobic nation to host the Olympics. |
| Ryan O'Meara † | United States | Figure skating | 2006 | Came out in 2008. |
| Sarah Vaillancourt Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2006, 2010 | Was widely out prior to competing. |
| Johnny Weir † | United States | Figure skating | 2006, 2010 | Came out in 2011, after years of homophobic speculation. He was criticized for not supporting a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, a city in homophobic Russia. |
| Ireen Wüst Δ | Netherlands | Speed skating | 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | Was widely out prior to 2010, at which point she was said to be in a relationship with Sanne van Kerkhof. |
| Anastasia Bucsis Δ | Canada | Speed skating | 2010, 2014 | Came out in 2013, in opposition to Russian anti-gay laws. Was previously in a relationship with Charline Labonté. |
| Callan Chythlook-Sifsof † | United States | Snowboarding | 2010 | Chythlook-Sifsof competed in 2010. She was not selected for the Olympic team for 2014, but came out during this Games in protest of Russia's anti-gay laws. |
| Meghan Duggan | United States | Ice hockey | 2010, 2014, 2018 | Married Canadian ice hockey player Gillian Apps in September 2018; they had competed against each other in the final of the 2010 and 2014 Games. |
| Michi Halilović | Germany | Skeleton | 2010 | |
| Venla Hovi | Finland | Ice hockey | 2010, 2014, 2018 | Married to American ice hockey player Amanda Pelkey. |
| Barbara Jezeršek Δ | Slovenia | Cross-country skiing | 2010, 2014, 2018 | Was widely out prior to the 2014 Games. |
| Hilary Knight | United States | Ice hockey | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | |
| Simona Meiler Δ | Switzerland | Snowboarding | 2010, 2014, 2018 | Was widely out before 2018. |
| Eric Mitchell † | Canada | Ski jumping | 2010 | Came out in 2015. |
| Šárka Pančochová Δ | Czech Republic | Snowboarding | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | Came out in 2017. |
| Paul Poirier Δ | Canada | Figure skating | 2010, 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Marie-Philip Poulin | Canada | Ice hockey | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | As of 2023, engaged to teammate Laura Stacey. |
| Emilia Ramboldt Δ | Sweden | Ice hockey | 2010, 2014, 2018 | Married a woman in 2015. Competed in 2010 and 2014 as Emilia Andersson. |
| Georgia Simmerling † | Canada | Alpine skiing, Freestyle skiing | 2010, 2014 | Simmerling has represented Canada in three different sports; alpine skiing in 2010, freestyle skiing (specifically, ski cross) in 2014, and track cycling in 2016 and 2020. She had also intended to compete in ski cross in 2018, but a crash in the days before team selection saw her break both legs and retire from skiing. She was widely out prior to the 2020 Games, and has been in a relationship with Stephanie Labbé since 2016. |
| Blake Skjellerup † | New Zealand | Speed skating | 2010 | Came out just after the 2010 Games, saying he waited until after competing to focus on his performance but also to not turn off potential sponsors. |
| Sanne van Kerkhof Δ | Netherlands | Speed skating | 2010, 2014 | Was widely out prior to 2010, at which point she was said to be in a relationship with Ireen Wüst. |
| Brittany Bowe Δ | United States | Speed skating | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Was widely out prior to 2018. |
| Belle Brockhoff Δ | Australia | Snowboarding | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Brockhoff came out in 2013, ahead of the 2014 Winter Games. Though she campaigned strongly against Russia and its anti-gay laws in this period, she told the media she would reign in her protests while at the Games, for her safety. |
| Jason Brown Δ | United States | Figure skating | 2014, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Alex Carpenter Δ | United States | Ice hockey | 2014, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Mélodie Daoust Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| John Fennell † | Canada | Luge | 2014 | Came out after the Games in 2014. |
| Jorik Hendrickx Δ | Belgium | Figure skating | 2014, 2018 | Came out shortly before the Games in 2018. |
| Daniela Iraschko-Stolz Δ | Austria | Ski jumping | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Married a woman in 2013. |
| Brianne Jenner Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Married a woman in 2019. |
| Gus Kenworthy Δ | United States / Great Britain | Freestyle skiing | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Kenworthy came out publicly in 2015. He notably kissed his boyfriend on the slope in 2018, causing the moment to be broadcast live. He competed for the United States in 2014 and 2018, and for Great Britain in 2022. |
| Sandra Näslund Δ | Sweden | Freestyle skiing | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Eric Radford Δ | Canada | Figure skating | 2014, 2018, 2022 | Came out after the Games in 2014. |
| Javier Raya † | Spain | Figure skating | 2014 | Came out widely in 2016. |
| Kaitlyn Weaver † | Canada | Figure skating | 2014, 2018 | Came out widely as queer after competing, saying she felt stereotyped as a figure skater and staying closeted harmed her mental health. Weaver has since become an advocate for queer people in the sport. |
| Natalia Zabiiako † | Estonia / Olympic Athletes from Russia | Figure skating | 2014, 2018 | Zabiiako was set to compete in 2014 for Estonia, but her pairs skating partner's registration was cancelled. She competed with a different partner for the Olympic Athletes from Russia in 2018, winning team silver. She retired in 2019 before considering competing again, this time for Canada, in 2022. In 2022, she came out publicly when her partner, Daria Kasatkina, did. |
| Guillaume Cizeron Δ | France | Figure skating | 2018, 2022 | Widely out by 2020. |
| Emily Clark Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Breezy Johnson † | United States | Alpine skiing | 2018, 2022 | Johnson was injured in training for the 2022 Winter Olympics and could not compete. She came out as bisexual later that year. |
| Christopher Kinney † | United States | Bobsleigh | 2018 | |
| Kim Meylemans Δ | Belgium | Skeleton | 2018, 2022 | Widely out before competing, Meylemans competed against her girlfriend Nicole Silveira in 2022. |
| Amanda Pelkey | United States | Ice hockey | 2018 | Married to Finnish ice hockey player Venla Hovi. |
| Adam Rippon Δ | United States | Figure skating | 2018 | Came out in 2015. |
| Hig Roberts † | United States | Alpine skiing | 2018 | Alternate. Came out in 2020 after retiring in 2019. |
| Jill Saulnier Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Ronja Savolainen Δ | Finland | Ice hockey | 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2020 Games. In a relationship with Anna Kjellbin. |
| Laura Stacey | Canada | Ice hockey | 2018, 2022 | As of 2023, engaged to teammate Marie-Philip Poulin. |
| Sophie Vercruyssen Δ | Belgium | Bobsleigh | 2018 | |
| Kendall Wesenberg † | United States | Skeleton | 2018 | |
| Lara Wolf Δ | Austria | Freestyle skiing | 2018, 2022 | Widely out prior to the 2022 Games. |
| Erin Ambrose Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Filippo Ambrosini Δ | Italy | Figure skating | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Kévin Aymoz Δ | France | Figure skating | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Megan Bankes Δ | Canada | Biathlon | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Ebba Berglund Δ | Sweden | Ice hockey | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Andrew Blaser Δ | United States | Skeleton | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing, Blaser raced with a rainbow flag on his sled. |
| Makayla Gerken Schofield Δ | Great Britain | Freestyle skiing | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Lewis Gibson Δ | Great Britain | Figure skating | 2022 | Gibson came out in the media shortly before his debut Games, though said he had really come out years earlier by posting photos with his husband to Instagram. He added that he had been nervous to discuss sexuality with the media before over fears it would negatively impact his pairs skating scores. |
| Amber Glenn Δ | United States | Figure skating | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing, Glenn was selected as a reserve. |
| Anna Kjellbin Δ | Sweden | Ice hockey | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. In a relationship with Ronja Savolainen. |
| Aneta Lédlová Δ | Czech Republic | Ice hockey | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Timothy LeDuc Δ | United States | Figure skating | 2022 | LeDuc is non-binary and was widely out prior to competing. |
| Alysa Liu Δ | United States | Figure skating | 2022 | |
| Bruce Mouat Δ | Great Britain | Curling | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing, Mouat credits coming out to his teammates as his breakthrough moment in sport. After working with a sport psychologist, he felt that holding back some of his emotions was preventing him from having the best team dynamic. |
| Simon Proulx-Sénécal Δ | Armenia | Figure skating | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Jamie Lee Rattray Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |
| Nicole Silveira Δ | Brazil | Skeleton | 2022 | Widely out before competing, Silveira competed against her girlfriend Kim Meylemans in 2022. |
| Micah Zandee-Hart Δ | Canada | Ice hockey | 2022 | Widely out prior to competing. |