Queer athletes have delivered a historic performance at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, securing a record-breaking number of medals and marking a milestone moment for LGBTQ+ representation in sport.
Of the 49 publicly out LGBTQ+ competitors who took part in the Games — which concluded on Sunday (22 February) — 19 athletes claimed medals in their respective events.
Competing under the banner of “Team LGBTQ+”, a campaign name coined by Outsports, the athletes collectively secured 11 medals across multiple disciplines. According to Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler, the tally included five gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
Golden Moments on Ice and Snow
Gold medal winners from Team LGBTQ+ included ice hockey star Hilary Knight, alpine skier Breezy Johnson, figure skaters Guillaume Cizeron and Amber Glenn, and freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud.
In total, 37 per cent of the LGBTQ+ athletes competing in Milan reached the podium — an achievement that placed Team LGBTQ+ 13th overall if ranked as a standalone delegation.
The 2026 Winter Olympics had already set a record before competition began on 9 February, boasting the highest number of openly LGBTQ+ athletes in Winter Games history. With 49 competitors, Team LGBTQ+ would have been the 19th largest contingent at the event.
Zeigler described the 13th-place finish as “pretty good”, particularly given the comparatively small size of the group against powerhouse nations.
Representation Across the Globe
Athletes representing the UK, US, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the Czech Republic were part of Team LGBTQ+.
Team USA fielded the largest overall delegation at the Games with 233 athletes, followed by Canada with 210 competitors.
Among the history-makers was Swedish freestyle skier Elis Lundholm, who became the first trans man to compete at a Winter Olympics. Competing in the women’s freestyle skiing tournament, Lundholm placed 25th in qualification round two, scoring 12.05 in the first round and 59.22 in the second.
The record medal haul and unprecedented visibility of LGBTQ+ athletes at Milan 2026 underline a continuing shift towards greater inclusion and representation at the highest levels of international sport.
