The American player, who won Beach Pro Tour silver in Rarotonga earlier this year, says he wanted to be more open about who he is.
American beach volleyball professional Alex Ukkelberg has come out publicly as gay, sharing a video about the years it took him to feel comfortable talking about his sexuality.
Ukkelberg told Outsports he had been out to family and friends for a long time. The video marked the first time he had spoken about being gay publicly. As he shared more of his life online, he told the outlet, it felt right to talk about this part of it too.
In the video, Ukkelberg recalled growing up with the idea that being gay and being an athlete were incompatible. He described struggling to reconcile the two and said he is now thankful he is gay.
A Podium Finish In The Pacific
Ukkelberg has already competed on one of the Pacific’s international beach volleyball stops. He and fellow American Charles Siragusa took silver at the Rarotonga Futures in the Cook Islands earlier this year, in their first Beach Pro Tour event together.
The pair came from a set down to beat Canada’s Steven Abrams and Cameron Chadwick in the semifinals before losing to Hungary’s Domonkos Doczi and Akos Veress in the final. It was Ukkelberg’s first Beach Pro Tour medal.
Outsports published its interview on 5 November in the United States, and PinkNews reported on the video the following day.
