26.8.08

ΟΙ ΔΥΣΚΟΛΙΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΝΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΕΝΑΣ ΑΘΛΗΤΗΣ ΑΝΟΙΧΤΑ ΟΜΟΦΥΛΟΦΙΛΟΣ ΣΤΟΥΣ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΥΣ ΑΓΩΝΕΣ

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Olympics still rough terrain for openly gay athletes
Fears of losing sponsors, alienating fans keep many athletes in the closet
Ryan Lee (Washington Blade, 8/8/2008)
Bruce Hayes spun around to focus his eyes on the distant race clock, then ripped off his goggles and threw his left hand in the air as one of the ABC broadcasters calling the 1984 Olympics shouted, “He did it!”
Just one lap earlier, 27 seconds before the celebration began, the television announcers and most of the 15,000 people inside the University of Southern California swimming complex had little reason to hope that Hayes would be able to win a gold medal for the U.S. 4x200 meter relay team.
Hayes’s teammates had given him a 1.5 second lead over the team from West Germany, but much of that advantage was nullified just after Hayes entered the pool for the final leg.
The anchor for the West German team, Michael Gross, was the most dominant swimmer of the 1984 Olympics, and was nicknamed “the Albatross” because of his height and wingspan. Gross gobbled up the American lead during the first three laps of the anchor leg and pulled ahead of Hayes as the two swimmers did their final flip turns and sprinted the last 50 meters of the race.
Despite Hayes’ shorter strokes, he used a racing technique common in which allowed him to pull even drafting — swimming, cross-country and NASCAR — with Gross with half lap remaining.
The two competitors went stroke-for-stroke during the final 25 meters as the crowd went wild and the television announcers screamed about witnessing “one of the greatest relay races in Olympics history.”
Hayes, whose final lap was the fastest split by any swimmer in the race, surged ahead in the last few strokes and edged Gross and the West Germans for the gold by .04 seconds.
Hayes celebrated in the water as his relay teammates were jubilant on the pool deck, each pausing to reach down into the pool and clinch Hayes’ fist.
“What a remarkable accomplishment for a young man who may be this nation’s best all around freestyle swimmer,” the ABC announcer said as the celebration continued.
High drama, high trauma
The 4x200 meter freestyle relay at the 1984 Olympics has been dubbed “the perfect race” by swimming aficionados. Just a year after that race, “the nation’s best all around freestyle swimmer” was 22 years old and in peak and ready to walk away from competitive swimming for physical condition — good.
“I feel like I had a great Olympic experience, but I definitely feel that I wasn’t entirely comfortable in that environment,” Hayes said.
Hayes may have conquered “the Albatross” in the pool, but he continued to be being burdened by a different kind of albatross within the swimming world — gay.
“I think I had the same kind of fears that anyone coming out has, particularly since it was 24 years ago, but I think the environment actually made it worse,” Hayes said. “When you’re in an athletic environment, when you live in that environment year-round, there’s just not a comfort level of coming out and sharing that kind of information with people.”
Hayes never encountered any outright hostility from coaches and teammates within USA Swimming, but the high-pressure atmosphere and tunnel vision of Olympic training didn’t allow space for Hayes to deal with his personal struggles.
“It wasn’t like they were homophobic, but they just weren’t sensitized to it,” Hayes said. “I wouldn’t say there was any kind of sensitivity to the fact that one of their athletes might be gay.”
Even the triumph of winning an Olympic gold medal couldn’t settle the discontent within Hayes, and a year after his stunning victory over the West Germans, he retired from swimming.
“I think I would’ve continued had I felt comfortable being myself, but I didn’t, and I really kind of felt like I had to give up swimming to come out,” Hayes said. “I don’t know if it was a conscious choice, even; but now when I look back and wonder why I didn’t go forward, that was definitely one of the reasons, in the back of my mind.”
U.S. athelete hesitant
As a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 2000 and 2004, it was clear to “Al Meredith” that he would have a hard time representing his country if people knew he was gay.
“It’s gotten better over the years, but America is still homophobic and so quick to judge people,” said Meredith, who asked that his real name and sport not be used because he remains competitive and is not out to his family, teammates or coaches.
“I didn’t want the risk of losing sponsors,” said Meredith, who won a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics. “I knew a couple of athletes who were also gay, but everybody shows up, remains anonymous and nobody wants to bring all of the attention on them.
“People don’t want to lose big sponsorships because of their sexual orientation,” he said.
Meredith’s experience also highlights the progress gay athletes and people have made since the early 1980s. While there was no gay-related element to Hayes’s Olympic experience, Meredith checked out gay bars in Sidney and Athens and hung out with fellow gay Olympians.
“I met athletes from other countries who, you know, you just discover after being around a person and spending that much time with them,” he said.
Still, Meredith believed there was a small bit missing from his Olympic experience due to his being gay.
“Definitely, you want someone to share those moments with, whether you’re gay or straight,” he said. “Just being able to share those moments of fame with someone that you love and care for, I missed that part of it.”
Meredith and Hayes celebrate the presence of ten openly gay Olympians in Beijing, but are disappointed that even the amateur sports world remains a hard place for openly gay athletes to thrive.
“I don’t think ten out of however many thousands of athletes there at the Olympics is a very high number,” Hayes said. “It’s very difficult for an athlete who is still competing to come out.”
But athletes who are willing to come out on sport’s biggest stage have the potential to influence minds and perceptions around the globe, including the stereotype that gay men aren’t athletic, Hayes said.
“One of the great things athletes who do come out can do is change those stereotypes,” Hayes said. “I think the fact that not that many athletes feel comfortable coming out is one of the reasons why the stereotype has endured.”

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