There were over 10,000 athletes competing in the Olympics. Exactly 10 of them were out gays and lesbians (9 lesbians, one gay man). Statistically, if you assume 5% of the population is gay or lesbian, there should be 500 gay and lesbian athletes at the games. So where are the other 490? Two possibilities: 1. They are there, they just aren't out. 2. Gay and Lesbians are still not welcome in athletics, so they are never given a chance to excel in this area.
Lesbians may well have had a different experience with their female PE teachers and coaches (which might also partly explain why 9 out of 10 out Olympic athletes are women), but for gay men, male athletic mentors are extremely hetero-normative. There isn't much space in male sports, from a very early age, to exhibit even androgynous qualities.
My guess is that both reasons are true. I happened (accidentally, if you can believe it) to be in Barcelona when the summer games were there in 92. Believe me, the gay clubs were full of athletes. Well, I presumed some of them were athletes, the weren't wearing numbers at the time.
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