List of LGBTQ Olympians and Paralympians

There have been 919 modern Olympians and Paralympians (including Summer Olympic athletes and artists, Summer Paralympians, and Winter Olympians and Paralympians) who have identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, and/or queer, or who have openly been in a same-sex relationship.

The first Olympic or Paralympic Games in which an athlete now known to be LGBTQ competed was the 1900 Summer Olympics, also the first LGBTQ Para/O-lympic medalist and first contemporaneously out Para/O-lympian. LGBTQ Para/O-lympians have contested events across over 60 sports, as well as several artistic events. The majority of LGBTQ Para/O-lympians are female. The Olympic or Paralympic sport with the most LGBTQ participants is football. The nation with the most out LGBTQ Olympians and Paralympians is the United States, including two who have also competed for other nations.

The most decorated LGBTQ Olympian and/or Paralympian is British Paralympic equestrian Lee Pearson, with 17 medals including 14 golds; the most decorated LGBTQ Olympian is Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, with 13 medals including 6 golds; the most decorated LGBTQ Summer Olympian is Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, with 9 medals including 5 golds. LGBTQ Olympians who hold Olympic records include Wüst; footballers Pia Sundhage and Vivianne Miedema; rower Emma Twigg; and triple jumper Yulimar Rojas, who also holds the world record.

At least 420 LGBTQ Para/O-lympians are medalists (45.70% of LGBTQ Para/O-lympians), of whom 197 have at least one gold medal (21.44%).


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