Sirena Linton took home second-team All-American honors in balance beam at the NCAA Championships this weekend. Competing for the University of Arizona, the out athlete has gone from walk-on to competing for national honors.
“That’s always been a dream of mine to become an All-American,” Linton said, according to Arizona Desert Swarm. “I always joke with Taylor (Spears), and I tell her that I want my picture on the wall next to hers in our gym because we put our All-Americans up.”
She and the University of Arizona celebrated her accomplishment on Instagram:
At the Pac 12 Championships last month, Linton tied for second in balance beam, in addition to a 19th-place finish in bars.
Linton has been publicly out for a while, sharing various posts on social media proclaiming her place in the LGBTQ community. When Arizona hosted a Pride Meet, she proudly displayed the team’s uniforms with a rainbow-colored Wildcats logo.
Linton has also posted about her romantic relationship with Olympian and Arizona basketball player Shaina Pellington, who is out.
You can hear Linton talk about her experiences as an out LGBTQ athlete in gymnastics on the Half In, Half Out podcast.
You can follow Sirena Linton on Instagram.
