At the last summer Olympic Games, only one competitor was out and openly gay - Matthew Mitcham who won gold for Australia. At the recent Winter Games, there was a venue for gay athletes, but none of the truly big names were openly out - not even the wonderful Johnny Weir. Now, Daniel Kowalski, a former elite swimmer for Australia who has won four Olympic has come out publicly. Kowalski competed in the Olympic Games in 200m, 400 m and 1500m individual freestyle events and in the 200m freestyle relay. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, he was the first man in 92 years to earn medals in all three freestyle events. He now works as an athlete career education adviser. Obviously, there are like MANY gay athletes - many of whom are champions. Yet sadly, fear of rejection and homophobia keeps them closeted. I certainly do not criticize anyone for remaining in the closet. God knows I did it for a long enough period myself. I hope that Daniel Kowalski will find the sense of liberation and self-acceptance (despite some rough spots on the journey) that I found. As he is quoted as saying, life is too short to be living a lie. Here are some highlights from The Age:*
FORMER Olympian Daniel Kowalski has joined the small number of elite Australian sportsmen who have publicly announced that they are gay. Kowalski, who has won four Olympic swimming medals, told The Sunday Age that he was ''tired of living a lie'' and that he wanted young gay people to know that others have had their experience. The few elite male Australian athletes who have announced publicly that they are gay include the retired NSW rugby league player Ian Roberts and, more recently, Olympic gold-medal winning diver Matthew Mitcham.
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Kowalski said he was inspired to make today's announcement after reading about the Welsh rugby player Garth Thomas, who announced last December that he was gay. He was so moved by Thomas's story that he contacted the player. The resulting conversations left him feeling ''excited and relieved'' for Thomas, but he also felt ''anger because I was jealous … he was out and felt liberated and free. ''And it really got me thinking that I could do that (come out) if I wanted to. I felt really compelled to do it because it's very tough to live a closeted existence.''
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Kowalski said he was not expecting more athletes to come out in the wake of his story. ''I just want them to realise that they are not alone, that the feelings that they have are probably quite common and that at the end of the day it's really OK. There will be hard times, but you surround yourself with great, supportive people who love you for you and you'll be OK.''
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He feels now that he had been in denial about his sexuality during his high-profile career. ''Things pop in my head that make me realise that I clearly suppressed these thoughts of being gay … because it was 'wrong', as a male it's 'wrong' but even more as an elite athlete.'' And this denial may have affected his competitive edge. ''I always knew that I lacked confidence when I stood up on the blocks and I do wonder sometimes if that lack of confidence was fear - fear of not really knowing who I am,'' he said.
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For his own future, Kowalski wants what most people want: ''I look for all the things straight people do. I want to fall in love and be happy and be proud of who I am.''
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