Of 10,708 athletes from a record number of 205 participating countries at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games which opens on Friday, only 11 are known to be openly gay or bisexual; of which only one is a gay man.
Outsports.com's Jim Buzinski, who initially counted five athletes but later amended the list to 11 after being alerted by readers who had written in, listed one gay man Australian Matthew Mitcham (diving), one female bisexual American Vicky Galindo (softball), and nine lesbians: Judith Arndt (Germany, cycling), Imke Duplitzer (Germany, fencing), Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg (Norway, handball and a lesbian couple), Natasha Kai (US, soccer), Lauren Lappin (US, softball); Victoria "Vickan" Svensson (Sweden, soccer); Rennae Stubbs (Australia, tennis) and Linda Bresonik (Germany, soccer).
The most well known of the lot is undisputedly Mitcham who made a splash around the world for being the first openly gay Australian man to compete in the Games. On May 24, The Sydney Morning Herald broke the news of his being gay in "Out, proud and ready to go for gold."
The 20-year-old diver told a gay Sydney newspaper that he had not intended to come out and was just answering a question a question posed to him by the journalist.
He was quoted in SXNews as saying: "I came out years ago. All that happened recently was that I was doing an interview with the Herald and there was a pretty innocuous question, 'Who do I live with?' and I just said 'my partner Lachlan'. And the journalist was really excited - she thought it was absolutely wonderful!"
The former trampoline athlete is expected to have a serious shot at a medal in Beijing after winning gold in the 10m platform event at the 2008 Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, USA.
"I always say to my friends, 'Wouldn't it be great if everybody who was gay said they were? If we said: February 21, or whatever, this is the coming out day. So, if you are, you have to come out to everybody you know'. It would be phenomenal. And it would be nice if everybody could just accept that it's not a choice, this is who you are. You would never, ever choose this, choose to be gay. It's such a difficult thing to deal with and coming out to people and talking about it, and coming out to your family.
"But I don't hide who I am any more. Everyone in the tennis world pretty much knows who's gay and who's not; the only reason I would like it spoken about publicly more is that I wish everybody would realise that, 'See all those people you admire? Out of 10 of them, four are gay, and I just want you to know that your child can still idolise them'."
Buzinski, a former sports editor and co-founder of the Outsports web site, stressed that while there are possibly many more gay athletes at the Games, the list comprises only those who can be "determine(d) to be 'publicly out,' having discussed their sexuality openly in some manner."
He further cited various reasons why athletes are not openly gay from "the effects on performance, interaction with teammates, fans and the media, and, in some cases, endorsements."
"In addition, the vast majority of Olympic athletes are under 30, a time when even people who are not elite jocks are wrestling with their sexuality. Being an Olympic athlete requires full-time dedication and a lot of things get put on hold. It is just easier to hide and deal with one's sexuality later."
Matthew Mitcham on ABC News Australia
Judith Arndt (Germany)
Date of Birth: 23 JUL 1976
Gender: Female
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 130 lbs
Place of Birth: Königs Wusterhausen (Germany)
Residence: Leipzig (Germany)
Sport: Cycling Road
Event(s): Women's Individual Time Trial | Women's Road Race
Official athlete bio
Linda Bresonik (Germany, soccer)
Date of Birth: 07 DEC 1983
Gender: Female
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 132 lbs
Place of Birth: Essen (Germany)
Residence: Essen (Germany)
Sport: Football
Event(s): Women
Official athlete bio
Imke Duplitzer (Germany)
Date of Birth: 28 JUL 1975
Gender: Female
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 154 lbs
Place of Birth: Karlsruhe (Germany)
Residence: Bonn (Germany)
Sport: Fencing
Event(s): Women's Individual Epee
Official athlete bio
Vicky Galindo (US)
Date of Birth: 22 DEC 1983
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 130 lbs
Residence: Union City, CA (United States)
Sport: Softball
Event(s): Women's Team
Official athlete bio
Gro Hammerseng (Norway)
Date of Birth: 10 APR 1980
Gender: Female
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 159 lbs
Place of Birth: Gjøvik (Norway)
Residence: Ikast (Denmark)
Sport: Handball
Event(s): Women
Official athlete bio
Natasha Kai (US, soccer)
Date of Birth: 22 MAY 1983
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 146 lbs
Sport: Football
Event(s): Women
Official athlete bio
Lauren Lappin (US, softball)
Date of Birth: 26 JUN 1984
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 161 lbs
Place of Birth: Anaheim, CA (United States)
Sport: Softball
Event(s): Women's Team
Official athlete bio
Matthew Mitcham (Australia)
Date of Birth: 02 MAR 1988
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 148 lbs
Place of Birth: Brisbane (Australia)
Residence: Sydney (Australia)
Sport: Diving
Event(s): Men's 10m Platform | Men's 3m Springboard
Official athlete bio
Katja Nyberg (Norway)
Date of Birth: 24 AUG 1979
Gender: Female
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 170 lbs
Place of Birth: Helsinki (Finland)
Sport: Handball
Event(s): Women
Official athlete bio
Rennae Stubbs (Australia, tennis)
Date of Birth: 26 MAR 1971
Gender: Female
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 143 lbs
Place of Birth: Sydney (Australia)
Residence: Orlando, FL (United States)
Sport: Tennis
Event(s): Women's Doubles
Official athlete bio
Victoria "Vickan" Svensson (Sweden, soccer)
Date of Birth: 18 MAY 1977
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 126 lbs
Place of Birth: Borås (Sweden)
Residence: Stockholm (Sweden)
Sport: Football
Event(s): Women
Official athlete bio