- Victoria A. Brownworth
Iced, Iced, Baby: The Lavender Tube on Winter Olympics Successes and Scandals
February 22, 2022 Bay Area Reporter

Canada's women's ice hockey team celebrates with their gold medals. (Source: Global News)
Beijing 2022 was the best Winter Olympics and the worst all at once. It was the queerest Winter games ever, with a lot of out lesbians, some out gay men, the first nonbinary competitor and queer medalists galore. But it was still in Beijing, and China has been brutal on LGBTQ people and elided news of competitors from any state coverage.
In addition, controversy over Chinese tennis phenom Peng Shuai continues. While she was seen publicly at the Olympics, she has been forced to withdraw both her rape accusation against a senior official and declare she is retiring from the sport, with no chance of outside intervention if she is never allowed to leave the country.
Nevertheless, the early international outrage over China's human rights abuses was all but forgotten after the Olympics began. And there was much excitement —and drama— to be had. It really was glorious to watch.
In some respects, queerness felt accepted and uncomplicated. Out Olympic veterans like skiier Gus Kenworthy and speedskater Brittany Bowe were at ease with their sexual identity and it was great modeling for queer kids and closeted adults.

Kenworthy didn't win a medal in half-pipe on the final day of the competition in Beijing, but he spoke to media about how happy he was to compete. Kenworthy told Reuters, "Honestly, it means the world to me to get to compete here as an out proud gay man and to know that there are other out LGBTQ athletes that are here competing."
He explained that during the 2014 Sochi Olympics he was fearful of being exposed as gay. "Ultimately that Games was kind of the catalyst for me to start thinking about coming out, and kind of put the gears in motion for me to make that announcement and do that," he added.
Kenworthy continued, "I think for anybody that wants to come out but is struggling, I'd just encourage them to try and live their truth or speak their truth, even if it's just to one person. It's such a liberating experience to tell someone."
For her part, Bowe has risen to a mythic heroism for selflessly giving up her spot to Erin Jackson, risking missing the Olympics herself. Jackson —the winner of four of the past eight World Cups in the 500-meter race— slipped during her qualifying event at U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Trials in January.
Bowe, who finished first in the event, gave her spot to Jackson, even though it meant she might not get to go to Beijing. Her selflessness paid off. Bowe carried the flag at the opening ceremonies. Jackson won gold, the first Black woman to do so. Bowe herself won bronze. And the vision of true sportswomanship and leadership was on worldwide display.
Oh, Canada
Lesbian hockey players also medaled at the games, staking their claim to the sport in which so many of us found our lesbian roots in junior high. The Canadian women's hockey team continued their ongoing rivalry with team USA and won.
According to NBC Sports, "at least seven of their competing players are openly LGBTQ, making them tied for the queerest Olympic team of all time. The Dutch women's soccer team also had seven publicly out players who competed in the Tokyo Summer Games."
According to Outsports, half of the 10 women's hockey teams in Beijing include at least one out player. Outsports estimated that at least 36 openly LGBTQ athletes, from 14 different countries, competed in Beijing, double the number from the 2018 Olympics.
Among the queer medalists were Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Melodie Daoust, Jamie Lee Rattray, Jill Saulnier, and Micah Zandee-Hart of Canada's ice hockey team, who all won gold, and Alex Carpenter, on the U.S. ice hockey team. Ronja Savolainen of Finland's ice hockey team won silver, and Ronja Savolainen of Finland's ice hockey team, won bronze.
Ireen Wüst won gold for the Netherlands in speed skating and also won bronze. Wüst is the third most decorated Winter Olympian of all time and the most-decorated out Olympian of all time.
Sandra Naeslund won gold for Sweden in ski cross. The extraordinary Guillaume Cizeron, an out gay man, won gold with his ice dancing partner, Gabriela Papadakis, for France, in a magnificent performance.
Out gay curler Bruce Mouat and his Great Britain squad was the last queer medalist of the Beijing games on Saturday, in the final day of the Olympics. Mouat got a nod from British royalty on his win.

"Congratulations Team Mouat on your silver medal and bringing home Team GB's first Beijing 2022 medal," read a tweet from the Royals' official Twitter account. "You should be incredibly proud of your performance this week."
Great Britain curler Bruce Mouat (Source: NBC)
American Timothy LeDuc didn't medal in pairs skating with partner Ashley Cain-Gribble, but gave a marvelous performance and was utterly joyous as they skated their way into history as the first nonbinary Winter Olympian. Their joy was palpable and enough to make one weep (we did).
And while they are not LGBT or Q, Americans Chloe Kim, Nathan Chen, Lindsey Jacobellis, Nick Baumgartner and Kallie Humphries all won gold for Team USA.
At this —her third— Olympics, American Elana Meyers Taylor won silver in monobob and bronze in bobsled in Beijing. She now has more medals than any Black woman in the Winter Olympics. She and Jackson are dedicated to bringing more Black women into the Winter Olympics.
Blight Russian
But as glorious as much of the Olympics were, a nasty drama overshadowed women's figure skating, the top-tier event of the Winter Games, and raised serious questions about why Russia was allowed to compete at all and when —or if— the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is ever going to address the abuse of young women athletes.
In 2019, Russia received a two-year ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency for its state-sponsored doping program. Between Dec. 17, 2020, and Dec. 17, 2022, no athlete can represent Russia at the Olympics, Paralympics or World Championships. The ban was originally set to last four years, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced it to two years.
