Olympic Rankings if LGBTQ Athletes Were a Country
Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do…
The folks at Outsports are tracking the LGBTQ Olympians with comprehensive coverage and they inspired this little bit of Sunday afternoon Kornacki-ing.
How Many LGBTQ Athletes Participating in Tokyo?
As more athletes have come out, the total number has risen to 179.
How many Medals Have LGBTQ Athletes Won?
Those following along will notice a big increase in the queer medal count since Friday.
Out LGBT Athletes have won 19 medals as of Sunday.
Gold: 6; Silver: 7; Bronze: 6
LGBTQ Team is in 7th place for Gold and 8th in total medals.
The only countries with more gold are China, US, Japan, Australia, Russia, Great Britain.
Seriously.
Tracking by Outsports
Of the 19 medals, 16 are in women's events. Amandine Buchard is the only 2-medal winner and that is in Judo for France, a silver and a gold, just five weeks after coming out.
The gayest sport at the Olympics is Judo as the team has taken 5 medals in it, followed by rowing and softball (2 medals each), and 1 medal each in 3×3 Baskteball, archery, BMX Freestyle, diving, fencing, rugby, shot put, swimming, team dressage, and triple jump.
The LGBTQ Team added 8 medals and one new country, Venezuela, to the list since Friday. That lifted the rankings as well. But there are a few ways to count olympic rankings.
Olympic Rankings — Gold Standard Method
There are two ways used globally to rank countries at the Olympics. Neither are “official”, both are available on the official site, and if there is any preference to note, it's that the gold medal totals method is the default.
Much of the world outside the US counts country rankings based on total gold medals. The thinking goes that while silver and bronze are nice, they are by definition not the “champions”. This method counts only the champions, the folks getting As or A+ grades, the cum laude crowd, the Macarthur geniuses, the Hall of Fame Inductees, not all the nominees…
Under the only-gold Olympic Rankings, the LGBTQ Team is in 7th place with 6 medals. The only countries with more are China, US, Japan, Australia, Russia, Great Britain. Seriously. And the Queer Nation is just ahead of Korea, Italy and France..
Olympic Rankings — U-S-A, USA
The second way folks do rankings is to simply count all the medals. The U.S. typically follows this method because when all medals are counted equally, we usually are at the top. I suppose it could be hangover suspicion about the metric system, the fact that we are the home fo the participation award, or that our politics has become suspicious of anyone at the top of their field or set apart as an expert.
It's more likely that we are comfortable fudging and counting Bs and Cs as if they are As. And it's no secret that the rest of the would would agree we are the GOAT when it comes to boasting, exaggerating, claiming fake expertise and American-splaining things. It's almost the definition of an “American” in some parts of the world, i suppose I could figure out how to defend it. .
For whatever reasons, this method dominates across the United States and it lands the country at No 1 with great consistency. If that isn't enough to disillusion you and to wipe away any vestiges of ‘It's a Small World' opening ceremony this method pushes Queer Nation down to rank at No. 8.
Proposed Olympic Ranking
After briefest reflection, it doesn't seem fair to apply either method — and not just because our nation does not exist. It's that the countries losing athletes and medals to the Queer Nation are by definition more likely to be the fair and welcoming and more hospitable ones to to LGBTQ people, and we're giving the homophobic ones an edge.
So pending approval of our sports commissioners at Outsports, i've added another column to each ranking showing the impact of double counting Queer athletes on both teams — at least until we set up a beachhead colony. And, even for the Poland outlier, it seems appropriate to let them have their athlete representing, as they really need an outspoken LGBTQ olympian right non.
While the cost earlier last week was more significant, under the revision, the Queer Nation slips one to Rank 9th in total medals. In gold medals LGBTQ team rank stays at No. 7.
LGBTQ swaps places with France. And Australia– surprisingly not carrying any LGBTQ medals — drops to 6th swapping spots with Great Britain. With the queers responsible for 50% of their gold, it's New Zealand that makes the biggest move.
And maybe that's a sign for where to start this nation state.
That said, the numbers are just a fun diversion. An out Olympic Ranking is only fun and a big deal because of all these incredible athletes. To see this level of LGBTQ talent and queer excellence should make us all inspired and proud that at least of some of the friction of homophobia has been dispensed with. Visit Outsports for updates and mini profiles of all the medal winners.
Ok Who are all these members of This Queer Nation team?
The numbers cannot give you what this mix of images on and off the field do.
And. the first impression is, with a few exceptions this whole event. is dominated by the pretty incredible group of women, all kinds of women and the women they love and who love them. In the next few pages our athletes include
- Godzilla and a call to wear green
- A lesbian Loving The Support of Dicks
- The Queen of England
- A recently out lesbian medal winner in a Lotto Ad in Poland
- Instagram girls, Bed head and skeet shooting
- Wedding pics and anniversaries
- A whole lot of love, passion, inspiration
A Gallery of Team LGBTQ Queer Nation. In Tokyo and at Home around the world.
Click to the next page for more LGBTQ Olympians in Tokyo and in their home environments — Page 2 has news updates, some sexy couples, The special rainbow head gear built by the Aussie Ruggers and more
