Heath Thorpe has a shot at qualifying for gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. The out gay gymnast posted on Instagram that there is a guaranteed spot for him to compete as an individual athlete.
All he has to do is win the all-around at the upcoming continental championships.
“4 Aussies and 4 Kiwis will compete head-to-head in the All-Around on May 26 in Auckland. The highest scoring gymnast on the day gets a named place at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.”
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Thorpe was unceremoniously left off of the Australian team that competed at the World Championships in 2023. Ahead of the competition, Thorpe expressed his disappointment being left off the team.
“I am absolutely heartbroken to share that I have not been selected to the Australian team for the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships,” he wrote…
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Gay gymnast Heath Thorpe’s Olympic dreams still alive after weekend win
Thorpe is rare among male gymnasts for being openly gay and he and his Australian teammates have now qualified for the World Championships.
By Jim Buzinski | May 8, 2023
At that World Gymnastics Champsionships competition, Australia finished 24th out of 24 teams. And it wasn’t close.
The point differential between No. 24 Australia and No. 23 Colombia was equal to Colombia’s No. 23 ranking and No. 2 USA.
It was a disastrous and embarrassing showing for Australia, who decided to leave Thorpe home in part because of a scoring system that doesn’t benefit Thorpe’s artistry. While the scoring system is changing next year, as reported by Alex Reimer at Queerty, these championships and the Olympics will be governed by the old scoring system.
Still, Thorpe has a one-in-eight shot at earning a spot in the Olympics. How?
While Australia won’t be competing as a team, the continent of Oceania — which includes Australia and New Zealand — has one guaranteed spot for an athlete to compete as an individual. The Oceania Continental Championships will be held in Auckland, May 25-26.
If Thorpe wins, he’s in. If not, he’s out.
If he’s able to qualify for the Paris Summer Olympics, he would be another out gay athlete to add to the list for these Summer Games.
Three years ago in Tokyo, there were 186 publicly out LGBTQ athletes identified by Outsports. Yet less than 10% were men. Thorpe would be an important symbol of excellence by gay men at the Olympics, if he’s able to qualify.
Now it seems up to him.
