We'll Take What We Can Get

Straight women and gay men get to gaze longingly at Michael Phelps and other scantily clad swimmers during NBC's prime time Olympic coverage. But for lesbians, getting a glimpse of inspiring and drool-worthy female athletes can be difficult, especially when Women's Gymnastics takes up such a large segment of air time.

Which is not to say that gymnastics isn't beautiful to watch. It happens to be one of my favorite Olympic events. It just feels inappropriate to lust after athletes that look like they're fourteen (and if you believe some reports, certain athletes might be).

Still, we take any real or perceived lesbian action where we can get it... and this image of Romania's Sandra Izbasa celebrating her gold medal winning floor exercise with her coach is probably as close as we'll get. And Sandra is 18.

5 Olympians You Might Find At The Gay Bar

1. Lauren Lappin (USA, Softball)

Stanford grad Lappin, 24, came out after a teammate’s openness inspired her. Lappin is a catcher on the U.S. team.

2. Natasha Kai (USA, Soccer)

The heavily tattooed Kai, 24, of Hawaii off-handedly came out in a June interview with NBCOlympics.com when she mentioned breaking up with her girlfriend. She's a forward on the U.S. women's national team.

3. Linda Bresonik (Germany, Soccer)

Bresonik has brought the drama to the forefront after being involved in a highly publicized love triangle with a former teammate and coach.

4. Rennae Stubbs ( Australia, Tennis)

Beijing is Stubbs’ fourth Olympics. The women's doubles player used to date her former doubles partner, Lisa Raymond, and is very vocal in her desire for more prominent tennis players to come out.

5. Imke Duplitzer (Germany, Fencing)

Duplitzer, 33, is the 2004 Silver Medalist in fencing. This is her fourth Olympics. She opted to skip the opening ceremonies in protest of the Chinese government.

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Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Where Are All The Queers?

Finding queer athletes to look up to at the Olympics is akin to looking for a four-leaf clover. Occasionally one will appear, but they are rare, mysterious and guarded. Many athletes can’t afford to come out because it could be detrimental to their career and result in the loss of support from their countries.

If we don’t know who is queer, we definitely know who is straight. Olympic coverage is hell bent on broadcasting any signs of heterosexuality in both the male and female athletes.

This was evident in the amount of media coverage American Beach Volleyball player Kerri Walsh received when she lost her wedding ring during a qualifying match over the weekend.




Her ring was eventually found by a volunteer and returned promptly. Commentators mentioned the ring repeatedly during another match on Monday night, as well as Walsh’s husband.

The whole event was just one of those things that bring the audience in and inspire a connection to an athlete and not just a sport, but I couldn’t help but think that a possible reason NBC spent so much airtime on a lost and found wedding ring was to counteract the attention Walsh and Misty May got in 2004 for their extended victory embrace.

It was two toned, beautiful, barely-clothed girls rolling around in the sand in each other’s arms in a moment of passion and celebration. And it was hot.

That clip also got aired and re-aired and Walsh and May hit the radar of lesbians around the world.

This time around the media is focused on leaving no room for error in terms of Walsh and May’s sexuality. With both married since the Athen’s games, commentators use every opportunity to talk about their marriages to men.

Which is fine, I just don’t think it would be that way if their significant others were women.