LGBTQ U.S. Athletes Strike Gold at Milano Cortina
Breezy Johnson makes history in downhill while Amber Glenn and Team USA’s hockey stars add to the medal count.
Some LGBTQ athletes from the United States got off to a strong start at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, bringing home at least two gold medals in the opening days.
Breezy Johnson led the charge, winning the women’s downhill skiing competition to become the first out LGBTQ athlete and the first American to capture gold at these Games. The 30-year-old defending downhill world champion finished the course in 1 minute 36.10 seconds, according to Outsports.
Johnson fell off the pace early in her run but steadily built speed, charging through the section where she crashed four years ago at nearly 70 miles per hour. After crossing the finish line, she endured a tense wait as other competitors took their turns. Her winning time was nearly eclipsed by Germany’s Emma Aicher, who finished just four-hundredths of a second behind her.
“I knew I had to push,” Johnson told reporters. “I knew I had to go harder than I did in training. I had to be super clean, and I felt like I did that. I got a little bit squirrelly off of some of the jumps, but I tried to just keep it rolling and I knew the speeds were good. I just hoped it would be enough.”
The victory marked a dramatic turnaround. Johnson missed the Beijing Winter Games after crashing during a World Cup event in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, suffering a torn right ACL, meniscus, and knee cartilage. In 2023, she was also banned for 14 months for missing three drug tests.
“I had a good feeling about today,” she said. “I sort of still can’t believe it yet, so I don’t know when it’ll sink in.”
She added: “Sometimes good things maybe do come to those who wait.”
Johnson, one of a record 47 out LGBTQ athletes competing at a Winter Games, came out as bisexual in 2022 in an Instagram post.
“So I’m bisexual,” she wrote. “Before this season starts I wanted to be open about who I am. To those 🏳️🌈 people out there who feel a little different and want to see people like them at the top I am here to represent that we are out there, we are normal, and we can do whatever we want.”
Another LGBTQ athlete earning gold is Amber Glenn, the three-time U.S. women’s figure skating champion, who helped secure first place in the team figure skating event. The medal marks the second consecutive U.S. gold in the team competition, introduced at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Glenn struggled through a couple of early mistakes in the women’s free skate but recovered, earning points for difficulty and artistry to finish third in her segment.
“I just did not feel wonderful, like even in the warm-ups,” Glenn told USA Today. “My leg was just sore, and it’s not an injury, it’s nothing that we need to worry about. It’s just something that I need that rest and recovery time.”
Despite her uneven performance, Glenn’s third-place finish — along with first-place skates from Ilia Malinin and ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and a fourth-place showing from pairs duo Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea — lifted the United States to a narrow victory over Japan.
Glenn, the first out LGBTQ woman to represent the United States in Olympic figure skating, later said she felt “guilty” that her performance was “lackluster” compared to her teammates. Even so, fans waved Pride flags alongside American flags in celebration.
Glenn, who came out as pansexual in 2019, has recently said she is stepping back from social media after receiving a “scary amount of hate/threats” for speaking about representing the LGBTQ community at the Olympics.
“When I chose to utilize one of the amazing things about the United States of America (freedom of speech) to convey how I feel as an athlete competing for Team USA in a troubling time for many Americans, I am now receiving a scary amount of hate/threats for simply using my voice when asked about how I feel,” Glenn wrote on her Instagram Stories on February 7, according to US Weekly. “I did anticipate this, but I am disappointed by it.
“I will be limiting my time on social media for my own well-being for now,” she continued. “But, I will never stop using my voice for what I believe in.”
Glenn will next compete in the individual women’s event on February 17 and 19.
Elsewhere, out LGBTQ ice hockey players Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter, and Cayla Barnes helped power Team USA to a 5-0 win over Finland.
Knight scored her 14th Olympic goal, tying the record for most goals by an American in Olympic women’s hockey. She now shares that mark with Natalie Darwitz and Kathryn King, according to Outsports. Knight is also four goals shy of the all-time Olympic record held by Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser.
Carpenter opened the scoring against Finland, notching her 10th career Olympic goal and moving into a tie for the third-most goals by an American in Olympic history, alongside Cammi Granato.
You must be logged in to post a comment.