In his first terview nfirmg he is gay the former swimmer tells Donald McRae that he has spent years not beg his te self and how he feels that probably had a negative impact on his reer the pool
Contents:
- EX-OLYMPIC SWIMMER MARK FOSTER OUT AS GAY
- THERE ARE A RERD 11 OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS R. NONE IS AN AMERIN.
- GAY SWIMMER, BISEXUAL LACROSSE PLAYER AMONG NCAA ATHLET SHARG THEIR CLN STORI
- OLYMPIC SWIMMER DAN JERVIS OUT, WANTS TO BE VISIBLE GAY ATHLETE AT THE COMMONWEALTH GAM
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS
EX-OLYMPIC SWIMMER MARK FOSTER OUT AS GAY
Mark Foster adms he 'tiptoed around' subject of his sexualy as ex-Team GB Olympic swimmer out as gaySix-time former world champn swimmer Mark Foster has e out as gayThe 47-year-old says he believ he had 'always been tellg half-tths public'Foster has gone on to work as ach, pund, and was on Strictly Come DancgHe says he would have won more his reer if he hadn't shied away om issue Published: 14:51 BST, 27 November 2017 | Updated: 15:24 BST, 27 November 2017. Swimmer Mark Foster felt he had not been te to himself as he 'tiptoed around' issu over his sexualy for so long before g out as 47-year-old six-time world champn, who rried the Great Bra flag at the openg ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Gam Beijg, nfirmed he was gay a wi-rangg terview wh the Guardian, which was published on Monday ma the cisn after believg he had always been 'tellg half-tths public' spe the full support of iends and fay.
Former Brish athlete Mark Foster has revealed an terview that he is g out as gayThe ex-world champn, pictured at the Pri of Bra Awards, says he has told 'half-tths'Sce retirg, Foster - who claimed 11 European Champnship gold medals, was twice Commonwealth Gam champn, set eight sprt world rerds and also peted across five Olympics - has gone on to work as a ach and media pund, as well as appearg on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancg programme.
And I'm not the first gay sportsman to e out. I was shocked by the treatment of gay people Rsia and need to say somethg - whout revealg anythg about myself.
THERE ARE A RERD 11 OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS R. NONE IS AN AMERIN.
He add the Guardian terview: 'There was that stuff about Becky, but she knows I'm gay and knows my other half. I'm gay. Swimmer Mark Thormeyer was a wreck leadg up to the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials, his hidg beg gay so taxg and bilatg that one day he broke down and lay helpls on his bedroom floor.
When the Olympics start this weekend R Janeiro, there will be a rerd 41 publicly out gay, lbian and bisexual athlet. Includ this total are a rerd 11 gay male athlet. Diver Patrick Jefey was openly gay as a diver the 1996 Olympics.
GAY SWIMMER, BISEXUAL LACROSSE PLAYER AMONG NCAA ATHLET SHARG THEIR CLN STORI
“It’s not like I’ve been phed to e out, ” the former world champn swimmer says as he prepar to tell the world he is gay. And I’m not the first gay sportsman to e out.
OLYMPIC SWIMMER DAN JERVIS OUT, WANTS TO BE VISIBLE GAY ATHLETE AT THE COMMONWEALTH GAM
Foster had not been tortured about beg gay, or ashamed, and over the past 26 years he has lived wh, and loved, two different men long relatnships.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS
I was shocked by the treatment of gay people Rsia and need to say somethg – whout revealg anythg about myself. Even durg fevered gossip about a possible relatnship wh a fellow swimmer, the four-time Olympic medallist and BBC analyst Rebec Adlgton, durg the 2016 Olympics, when she was filmed squeezg his leg unr the table, an assumptn that he might be gay did not seem to matter to anyone but Foster and those clost to do matter, particularly sport, where n still feel terribly hard for people to e out. Foster is telligent and articulate, a man who also works as a mol and a motivatnal speaker, but he has stggled sce the age of 17 to voice out loud the simple fact he is gay.
The longer we talk the clearer the remr that beg a gay sportsman still verg on the we turn to football, where the glass ceilg seems osted and unbreakable to gay and bisexual men who play the game profsnally while harbourg a secret, the importance of siar sportsmen talkg openly is obv.
Foster, a Spurs supporter, unrstands why gay footballers might fear abe om the terrac or uncertaty om team-mat if they me out. I went to the Attu awards last month and gave Greg Louganis [the gay Amerin diver and double Olympic champn] an award. He knew I was gay but we never talked much.