Emma Twigg has won a gold medal in single sculls rowing at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Twigg, a rower from New Zealand, is competing in her fourth Olympic Games, and her first after coming out publicly.
Twigg won the gold medal with an Olympic record time.
Previously she faced heartbreak at her last two games, finishing in fourth place — just off of a medal — in both London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. She called her fourth-place finish in Rio “almost my worst nightmare.”
In fact, she was so upset that she announced her retirement from the sport shortly after the Olympics.
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Being out and in love were part of the reason Twigg decided to give the Olympics one more shot, as she shared on Outsports’ Five Rings To Rule Them All podcast.
“It’s a great example for anyone out there struggling with who they are,” she said of her openness about her marriage to her wife.
From nightmare to Olympic dream, we couldn’t be happier for Twigg.
You can hear the conversation with Twigg from Pride Month here.
