OUR THIRSTY -30s FEAT. OUT N' PROUDš³ļøāš
Talk'OH! Tuesday
Written by Glenn Javier
The World of Sports is inhabited by many of the human population's most stunning creatures. Every month, we will do Our Thirsty -30s [short for 30 and under] where I will hunt and pick four athletes [a mix of guys and girls] below the age of 30 who, in my opinion, kept everyone [fans and google search advocates] either scrolling down their respective Instagram feeds or are glued to the TV and/or smartphones whenever these good-looking people are playing.
June is PRIDE MONTH š³ļøāš and we all know the struggle of many LGBTQ+ athletes. Albeit the progress of acceptance for the community in the world of sports has seen significant improvements in recent years, the industry still has a lot of grey areas to solve as longstanding heteronormative principles still linger. To show support to the community, we are showcasing our hottest LGBTQ+ athletes from across the globe!
Thanks to these brave people who come out publicly, the younger generation of athletes now have role models to look up to where they can start and continue to be honest and open about who they are and also succeed in the sport of their choice.
Out N' Proud Athletes [Left to Right] Tom Daley, Collin Martin, Markus Thormeyer, Danell Leyva
In random order, here are June's Hotties Under Thirty:
Thomas "Tom" Daley | British Diver
Born: May 21, 1994 (27 years old)
Birthplace: England, United Kingdom
Sport: Diving
Started Senior Career: 2008
"I guess it has always been in the back of my head I might be gay, but you never know."
FACTS
Tom is currently a television personality and YouTube vlogger but rose to stardom for being a cute and flexible British diver. He specialises in the 10-metre platform event and is a double World champion in the event.
He won the 2009 FINA World Championship in the individual event at the age of 15, before regaining it in 2017. Tom was the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist in the said event.
As seen in the two photos above, Tom also competes in synchronized and team events. In 2015, he partnered with Rebecca Gallantree to the inaugural mixed team World title.
In 2016 he won a second Olympic bronze in the men's synchronized 10-metre platform, with Daniel Goodfellow. In 2017, he won World silver with Grace Reid in the mixed 3-metre springboard synchronised event.
Tom posted a YouTube video when he came out in late 2013 saying he had fallen in love, and it just so happened to be with a guy.
A few years later, released another one. This time it was to tell everyone that he was in a relationship with a man who turned out to be American screenwriter, director, and producer Dustin Lance Black. They got married in 2017.
Collin Martin | American Soccer Player
Born: November 9, 1994 (26 years old)
Birthplace: Maryland, United States
Sport: Soccer
Started Senior Career: 2013
āToday, Iām proud that my entire team and the management of Minnesota United know that I am gay..."
FACTS
Collin is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship.
He has played for D.C. United and Minnesota United FC in Major League Soccer, and for Richmond Kickers and Hartford Athletic in the United Soccer League.
Collin made his debut for D.C. United on August 3, 2013, against the Montreal Impact.
When he was on loan with the Richmond Kickers, he scored his first professional goal to open a 2ā1 win over the Charleston Battery in the playoff quarter-finals back in September 2014.
He came out as gay in June 2018, making him the only active and/or out gay male athlete in any of the Big Five leagues or any top-division professional men's national soccer leagues.
Markus Thormeyer | Canadian Swimmer
Born: August 25, 1997 (23 years old)
Birthplace: Newmarket, Ontario
Sports: Swimming
Started Senior Career: 2015
"After letting my walls down and coming out to the team, I felt like I could finally be me."
FACTS
Markus is a Canadian competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and backstroke.
While he swims, he is also pursuing an undergraduate degree in environmental science at the University of British Columbia.
Markus represented Canada multiple times on the junior international stage, being the youngest male on Canada's 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships team and winning five bronze medals at the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
He made his first senior international appearance at the 2015 Pan American Games where he won a silver as a part of the 4x100 m freestyle relay. He went along to win gold at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships.
He came out as gay in February 2020.
Danell Johan Leyva | Cuban-American Gymnast (Former)
Born: October 30, 1991 (29 years old)
Birthplace: Matanzas, Cuba
Sport: Gymnastics
Started Senior Career: 2009
āFor a long time Iāve known that I wasnāt straight... I always rejected that side of me.ā
FACTS
Danell Johan Leyva is a former gymnast who competed for the United States. He became the youngest member of the US senior national team at age 17.
He is the 2012 Olympic individual all-around bronze medalist and 2016 Olympic parallel bars and horizontal bar silver medalist. He is also the 2011 US national all-around gold medalist and the 2011 world champion on the parallel bars.
Danell was a specialist on parallel bars and horizontal bar, having his own signature style on the latter which involved jam-dislocate-hop to undergrips.
He signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Adidas Gymnastics back in 2013.
With his undeniable charm, Danell then went into media where he filmed two television advertisements, appeared on a Nickelodeon show, and worked as a choreography consultant on hit sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Just last October 2020, He came out publicly on National Coming Out Day with a message thread on Twitter.
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