Olympics 2008

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Nearly two thirds of Out gay athletes medaled

In other words, go gay and win a medal!

[Gemini Cricket]

Aww, isn't he cute?!

[Alex]

Originally Posted by SzczerbiakManiac

Nearly two thirds of Out gay athletes medaled

In other words, go gay and win a medal!

It may be a natural tendency towards pessimism on my part but the way I'd interpret that is that in athletics you don't come out unless your position at the top of the sport is very secure and can't be easily challenged.

In other words, the strong performance is, perversely, an indicator of discrimination in sports.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Alex

It may be a natural tendency towards pessimism on my part but the way I'd interpret that is that in athletics you don't come out unless your position at the top of the sport is very secure and can't be easily challenged.

In other words, the strong performance is, perversely, an indicator of discrimination in sports.

They were all out before the Olympics.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by JWBear

They were all out before the Olympics.

And they were all at or near the top of their field before the Olympics (that's how you get to the Olympics).

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by JWBear

They were all out before the Olympics.

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

And they were all at or near the top of their field before the Olympics (that's how you get to the Olympics).

But were they all out before they arrived at the top of their sport?

I want to believe that someone doesn't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will affect them; I just understand the reality of some people in our society

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

But were they all out before they arrived at the top of their sport?

I want to believe that someone doesn't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will affect them; I just understand the reality of some people in our society

They don't have been all out for my suspicion to be correct. But unless there is a serious suggestion on the table that homosexuality produces athletic skill, then either it is a statistical fluke or there is some underlying variable at play.

To me, having the population of gays in the game swing to the high end of achievement suggests that somehow the rest of the curve is being cut out. Either the less successful gay participants are pressured out of the sport more than equally successful straight participants or fearing such pressure the less successful ones just don't come out.

Just a theory. Kind of like how the early black MLB players were disproportionately Hall of Famers, not because being black made you a better player but simply because being black meant you had to be a better player to get on the field. It was quite a bit later that you could be a mediocre black player.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Alex

To me, having the population of gays in the game swing to the high end of achievement suggests that somehow the rest of the curve is being cut out. Either the less successful gay participants are pressured out of the sport more than equally successful straight participants or fearing such pressure the less successful ones just don't come out.

Perhaps they are just happier to spend even more time than their competitors hanging around the gym surrounded by bulge-revealing onesies, thus they get far more training time.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by Alex

Kind of like how the early black MLB players were disproportionately Hall of Famers, not because being black made you a better player but simply because being black meant you had to be a better player to get on the field. It was quite a bit later that you could be a mediocre black player.

In that vein, I noted that Tuesday was the 51st anniversary of Dan Bankhead's debut as the first black major league pitcher.