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Sportspersons across the globe are always under scrutiny by the media and the people at large for their performances. Athletes lead two kinds of lives in such a scenario. One, a public life and the other a personal life where they tend to keep their feelings away from people's glare. It takes immense courage for any athlete to come out of the closet and announce their sexual orientation in front of the whole world.Ian Thorpe, a 5-time Olympic gold medallist Australian swimmer revealed he is gay on Channel 10 recently. Several athletes from around the world supported the choice he had made.Let us take a look at other notable athletes who came out in public.
#10 Megan Rapinoe
Megan helped the American women’s soccer team win gold at the 2012 London Olympics. She scored four goals and had four assists in the tournament.
On July 2, 2012, Rapinoe came out as a lesbian in an interview with Out magazine. Rapinoe confirmed that she has been dating Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh since 2009.
#9 Amelie Mauresmo
Amelie is a french tennis player and a former World No.1. She has two Grand Slams to her credit.
Amelie Mauresmo came out at the Australian Open in January 1999 at age 19. After a very successful Australian Open, beating top-ranked Lindsay Davenport, Mauresmo lept into the arms of her then girlfriend and announced that her success had to do with finding love and coming to terms with her sexuality.
Amelie Mauresmo won a silver medal for France in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She is currently the coach of Brit Andy Murray.
#8 Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis is an American Olympic diver who won gold medals at the 1984 and the 1988 Olympic games in both the springboard and platform.
He did not disclose that he was HIV-positive during the ‘88 Seoul games. In his autobiography, ‘Breaking the Surface’, he describes his depression as a teenager and revealed that he was HIV-positive.
Greg announced that he was gay in 1994.
#7 Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl is regarded as one of the best basketball players of all time. She was named the Naismith College player of the year in 1993.
She won four WNBA Championships and was named WNBA MVP and defensive player of the year on three occasions.
She also won three Olympic golds with team USA. Sheryl was married from 1995 to 1999 and had a son whom she named after Michael Jordan. She announced she was gay in 2005.
#6 Sarah Vaillancourt
Sarah is part of the Canada National Women’s hockey team. She has won two gold medals at Olympics, a World Championships gold and a 4-time World Championship silver medallist.
As a freshman, she openly admitted that she was a lesbian, and that she would leave if anyone had a problem with that. Fortunately none of her coaches or teammates did, because she went on to become one of the top players in the Ivy League school's history.
#5 Bill Tilden
Bill Tilden, nicknamed “Big Bill” is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was the World No. 1 for seven years and has 10 Grand Slams to his credit. He is the only player to reach 10 Grand Slam finals at a single major-the US Open.
Bill was arrested on two occasions when he was caught being with young boys. His friendship with Charlie Chaplin meant he would not stay in jail for long.
#4 Gareth Thomas
Gareth is a retired Welsh professional rugby player, who represented Wales in both rugby union and rugby league. He revealed that he was gay in 2009 at 35.
He told the BBC, “I don’t want to be known as a gay rugby player. I am a rugby player first and foremost. I’m a man.”
Gareth played in 100 test matches before he was overtaken by Stephen Jones in 2011. He has 40 tries in his career.
#3 Jason Collins
Jason was the first male athlete in the four major American professional sports to come out as gay. At the end of the 2012-13 NBA season, he made this announcement.
He wrote in Sports Illustrated “ If I had my may, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand. “
Jason has played for six teams over 12 seasons, averaging 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds.
#2 Billie Jean King
A former World No.1, Billie won 12 Grand Slam Singles titles and 16 doubles titles. She married Larry King in 1965. She had an abortion in 1971.
She had a relationship with her secretary Marilyn Barnett. Their relationship became public in a May 1981 ‘palimony’ lawsuit filed by Marilyn.
She became the first professional female athlete to come out as a lesbian.
#1 Martina Navratilova
One of the most dominant tennis players in the history of the game, Martina has 18 Singles Grand Slam trophies and 31 doubles trophies. Born in Prague, she became a United States citizen in 1981.
She came out publicly about her sexual orientation later that year. She was in a long-term relationship with Judy Nelson from 194 to 1991. She retired from the game in 2006.
