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Kirsty Gilmour is proud as punch to be the only out LGBTQ badminton player at the Olympics.
There are 191 out LGBTQ athletes in Paris and 11 who are part of Team GB, but Gilmour is the only shuttler among that number.
“I’m super proud,” said Gilmour. “Being the only out badminton player was an accident - I didn’t mean it!
“To be your whole self, in public, is first of all a privilege and second of all, necessary. You’re laid bare out on that court, you’re super vulnerable and aiming for your dreams, to be cheesy about it.
“You have to be all of yourself. For me personally to hide a part would not be performance-enhancing. I’m proud to be out.”
Homosexuality is criminalised in a number of nations in which badminton is the national sport, including Indonesia and Malaysia.
Gilmour is competing at her third Olympic Games - the second British player to rack up that many appearances in women’s singles.
She has restricted herself to only one selfie in the Olympic Village, with fellow Glaswegian Andy Murray.
“I shot my shot and got a selfie - it’s Andy after all,” said the 30-year-old. “I might not get another chance.”
Gilmour got her Paris campaign underway with a comfortable 21-13 21-11 win over Keisha Fatimah Azzahra of Azerbaijan.
She faces a tougher test in her second game against sixth seed He Bingjao of China, a match she will need to win to progress to the knockout stages for the first time at a Games.
“Honestly, I was just as nervous as at my first Olympics,” said Gilmour,who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.
“I had a massive knee injury in the first Olympics in Rio. For each one, I’ve been more and more prepared. It’s still really nervy walking out there and then your brain goes, ‘badminton tournament, we’ve done a couple of these’ and we’re fine.”
:: With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
