Training to be an elite athlete is tough. Parenting is tough. Being a queer person can be tough. Yet some of the athletes and coaches in the Paris Olympics are doing all three, and deserve our special respect and admiration. Here’s a little about them and their families.
I’m one of those people who will watch any Olympic event at any time, but I’ll be keeping a special eye on these queer parent Olympians:
- Diana Taurasi (Basketball, USA), whose second baby with former WNBA player and spouse Penny Taylor, arrived between WNBA playoff games in October 2023. Taurasi flew home to Taylor in a rush after uttering the immortal words on camera, “Hold it in, babe. I’m coming.”
- Breanna Stewart (Basketball, USA), whose baby with Spanish pro player and former WNBA player Marta Xargay Casademont was born one day after Stewart won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. The couple made a short film about their experience.
- Chelsea Gray (Basketball, USA), whose baby with spouse Tipesa Gray, a former NCAA and American Samoan national player, was front and center at the Las Vegas Aces Championship Ring Ceremony in May.
- Brittney Griner (Basketball, USA), a now-three-time Olympian but the newest parent on the list, who had a baby with spouse Cherelle Griner, an attorney, on July 8.
- Sami Whitcomb (Basketball, Australia), who has two children with spouse Kate Malpass, an Australian professional basketball player and spoke about career and family balance in this piece for the Seattle Storm. Whitcomb chose to miss playing in the WNBA Championships with the Storm in 2020 in order to be present in Australia for their first son’s birth. (See the adorable photo posted by the Storm, with the tiniest pair of basketball shoes!) The couple welcomed their second child at the end of 2023.
- Katrina Gorry (Soccer, Australia), had her first child as a solo parent in 2021, then welcomed a second this past June with with fiancée Clara Markstedt, a Swedish professional soccer player.
- Tameka Yallop (Soccer, Australia), had a child with spouse and former New Zealand national player Kirsty Yallop in 2020.
- Tamires Cássia Dias de Britto (Soccer, Brazil), is in a relationship with singer Gabi Fernandes and has a child from a previous relationship.
- Tom Daley (Diving, Great Britain), and husband Dustin Lance Black, a screenwriter, director and producer, welcomed their second child last year.
- Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (Rugby, New Zealand), and former teammate Renee Woodman-Wickliffe are raising a child born to Renee in a previous relationship, and whom Portia first met when the baby was eight weeks old.
- Emma Twigg (Rowing, New Zealand), and wife Charlotte had a child in 2022.
- Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, is the head coach of Team USA Basketball (and wrote a piece for Sports Illustrated in 2021 in support of transgender women’s participation in women’s sports). She and her spouse, singer and Lynx vice president Carley Knox, have one child, who had an adorable moment with then-President Obama back in 2015 after the Lynx won the WNBA Championships.
- Emilie Bydwell, head coach of U.S. Women’s Olympic Rugby Sevens, has a daughter with her spouse, former English national player and current rugby coach Michaela Staniford.
Did I miss any parents among the many out athletes in the Paris Games (thanks, Outsports!)? That’s entirely likely; not all coverage mentions both a player’s parental status and LGBTQ identity. Please let me know if I’ve missed someone and I’ll keep this post updated.
