Feature image collage: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images // Tom Weller/VOIGT/DeFodi Images via Getty Images // Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images // Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
The 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off its razzlin’, dazzlin’, flipplin’, slidin’ 16-day event with a fireworks-heavy opening ceremony this morning in Beijing, and if you’re anything like us, you’re cheering for Team Gay, just like we did in this year’s Summmer Olympics! There are fewer participants overall in the Winter Olympics — because there’s only a third as many events in the Winter Games — which means there aren’t quite as many openly LGBTQ+ athletes to cheer for, but there’s still more than ever! When I first started writing about the Olympics back in the early aughts, the only gays were basically a handful Dutch speedskaters; now there’s seven openly gay players on Canada’s women’s hockey team alone!
Here’s a quick and handy guide on how to watch all the events (Peacock!), and below is a list of gay women Olympians and where to follow them throughout the Games. They are sorted alphabetically, by last name. Please let us know if we missed any confirmed openly queer women/NB athletes on this list!
Erin Ambrose (Canada)
Hockey
Megan Bankes (Canada)
Biathlon
Ebba Berglund (Sweden)
Hockey
Brittany Bowe (USA)
Speedskating
Belle Brockhoff (Australia)
Snowboarding
Alex Carpenter (USA)
Hockey
Emily Clark (Canada)
Hockey
Mélodie Daoust (Canada)
Hockey
Makayla Gerken Schofield (Great Britain)
Skiing
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYuGPpbKTIT/
Amber Glenn (USA)
Figure Skating
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (Austria)
Ski Jumping
Brianne Jenner (Canada)
Hockey
Anna Kjellbin (Sweden)
Hockey
Aneta Lédlová (Czech Republic)
Hockey
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZVhQUPPONZ/
Kim Meylemans (Belgium)
Skeleton
Sandra Naeslund (Sweden)
Skiing
Sarka Pancochova (Czech Republic)
Snowboarding
Jamie Lee Rattray (Canada)
Hockey
Jill Saulnier (Canada)
Hockey
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZMxnbApgY6/
Ronja Savolainen (Finland)
Hockey
Nicole Silveira (Brazil)
Skeleton
Ireen Wüst (Netherlands)
Speedskating
Micah Zandee-Hart (Canada)
Hockey