Meet the pioneering LGBTQ+ athletes representing Team GB at the Winter Olympics
Here are some of Team GB’s out LGBTQ+ athletes heading to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. (Shaun Botterill/Rodin Eckenroth/Ian MacNicol/Getty)
Here are some of Team GB's out LGBTQ+ athletes heading to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. (Shaun Botterill/Rodin Eckenroth/Ian MacNicol/Getty)
The 2026 Olympic Winter Games are just a few weeks away, and we’re getting ready to cheer on our LGBTQ+ Team GB athletes.
The Winter Games, running between 6 and 22 February, are taking place in Italy. Hosted jointly by the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, athletes will be descending on Northern Italy to compete.
In 2022, the number of out LGBTQ+ athletes had doubled since the previous games, which were held in South Korea in 2018, according to OutSports. We don’t have a definitive list of every LGBTQ+ athlete competing in 2026 yet so it’s not clear whether that figure has increased again, but what we do know is that we have some amazing LGBTQ+ Team GB athletes, so let’s get to know them more:
Makayla Gerken Schofield
Makayla Gerken Schofield is a British freestyle skier and is currently understood to be the only out LGBTQ+ woman member of Team GB heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Gerken Schofield is pansexual, and with the governing body, GB Snowsport, she used her visibility to mark LGBTQ+ History Month in 2021.
“Many people call me bisexual but I consider myself as pansexual,” she told the publication.
“I would be delighted to meet more people in the LGBTQ+ community in snowsports and to bring my support for someone who would need it.”
According to her Instagram, the 26-year-old athlete uses she/her and they/them pronouns.
The athlete made her Olympic debut in 2022. In Beijing, she finished eighth in the single competition, taking Britain’s best-ever Olympic Moguls result. Since she has made it onto the World Cup podium with Dual Mogul bronze in 2023.
Ahead of the 2026 Games, Gerken Schofield has been named an ambassador for Milano Pride House.
“During major sporting events like the Olympics, spaces like this truly matter,” she said in a statement about her ambassadorship.
“They remind us that sport should be a place where everyone feels safe, seen, and valued! Standing alongside openly LGBTQ+ Olympians and Paralympians resonates with me personally because visibility and representation without realisation, can change lives.
“Pride Houses can help move the conversation forward and show that diversity and inclusion are not just values we talk about, but values we live by in sport and beyond.”
Lewis Gibson
Scottish figure skater Lewis Gibson is a widely decorated figure skater. With his ice dance partner, Lilah Fear, he is the 2025 world bronze medalist.
He is also a four-time European medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a ten-time Grand Prix medalist, an eight-time ISU Challenger Series gold medalist and an eight-time British national champion.
Gibson competed just a few days ago at the European Figure Skating Championship. He and Fear (nicknamed the Disco Brits) wowed the crowd with a performance soundtracked to the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.”
The 31-year-old skating star is gay. He spoke about his sexuality for the first time in 2022. However, he’s remarked that he felt his public coming out was in a Valentine’s Day photo with his now-husband, Joshua Walsh.
Speaking to OutSports in 2022, Gibson shared: “I can’t live never sharing who I am and sharing who I love.
“And I’m really glad, as time has progressed, I’m doing things like this and embracing this side of me more.”
Recently, Gibson added his voice to a growing movement in favour of allowing same-sex partnerships to compete internationally. Starting next season, British Ice Skating has permitted same-sex teams in national competitions.
“I think actually, we’re privileged in this sport where you can be so diverse in what you do within your elements and your music choice,” Gibson told Reuters.
“And I think that just opens the door for same-sex couples to compete alongside mixed in whatever way that works out best. I think it’s just such a great sport for that.”
Gus Kenworthy
Coming out of retirement for his fourth Olympics, skiing legend Gus Kenworthy is returning to the slopes.
The 34-year-old won silver at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He then came out as gay the following year. In 2022, Kenworthy retired after a nasty crash and dropped out of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Kenworthy competed for the USA in his first two Games, but for the UK in his third. He competes in slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air.
Now, however, he’ll be representing Team GB in Italy. Speaking to ESPN, Kenworthy noted: “After taking a step away, I realized I miss skiing and I really want to compete again.
“I didn’t know if I would be able to come back after three-and-a-half years, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to after seven and a half. So, it’s this Olympics or nothing. I’m never going to have this opportunity again.”
When he’s not on the snow, Kenworthy has made NSFW homemade jockstraps and launched an LGBTQ+ book club with Dylan Mulvaney. He’s also starred in the horror anthology series American Horror Story and appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.
From 2015 to 2019, Kenworthy was in a relationship with actor Matthew Wilkas. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the pair shared a kiss before Kenworthy competed.
The kiss was broadcast and became known as a significant moment for LGBTQ+ visibility in professional sports.
Bruce Mouat
Scottish curler Bruce Mouat is heading to Italy for his second Olympic Games after competing in Beijing in 2022.
The 31-year-old sportsman is a decorated athlete, with two world championships, four European championship titles and 12 Grand Slam titles to his name.
Also, at the 2022 Winter Olympics, he earned a silver medal in the men’s team event. Then at the 2023 World Championships, in Ottawa, Mouat won gold. This year, as he heads to Italy, he’ll be hoping to take a step up on the podium and take the Olympic gold.
Mouat is openly gay and lives with his boyfriend, Craig Kyle. In a 2021 BBC interview, the athlete revealed that he came out to a sports psychologist at a young age.
“She was the first person I ever told that being gay was what I was hiding from the sport and from my family and friends,” he recalled.
“She was the one who helped me realise that being gay didn’t really matter in terms of a sport, it’s not going to affect how I play, but that before I had come out it was affecting how I played.
“I feel you have to have a great team dynamic in a curling team and to have that you have to be truthful and tell them exactly what you’re feeling. I just felt like I couldn’t do that.”
