‘Team LGBTQ+’ wins record number of medals at 2026 Winter Olympics
Gold medalists Laurence Fournier Beaudry and partner Guillaume Cizeron of Team France (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Queer athletes made their community proud at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics after winning a record-breaking number of medals.
Nineteen of the 49 publicly out LGBTQ+ athletes competing in the multinational sporting event, which came to a close this weekend, won a medal in their respective competitions.
In total, 11 medals were won across multiple sports by members of ‘Team LGBTQ+’ – the name given to the group of queer athletes as part of a campaign by Outsports.
Cyd Zeigler, Outsport’s co-founder, reported the total number of medals after the Games’ came to an end on Sunday (22 February). They included five Gold, two Silver, and four Bronze.
The triumphant gold medal wins for Team LGBTQ+ included ice hockey player Hilary Knight, skier Breezy Johnson, figure skaters Guillaume Cizeron and Amber Glenn, and free-skier Mathilde Gremaud.
A whopping 37 per cent of Team LGBTQ+ won a medal, helping the team to finish 13th overall.
This year’s Winter Olympics had already broken records before it commenced on 9 February, having the highest number of out LGBTQ+ athletes in Winter Olympics history.
The volume of LGBTQ+ athletes made Team LGBTQ+ the 19th largest contingent of athletes at the event. Zeigler noted that finishing 13th place is “pretty good” considering how small its numbers are compared to other nations.
Team USA was the largest contingent of athletes this year, with 233 competitors overall. Canada followed close behind with 210.
Overall, Team LGBTQ+ included competitors representing the UK, the US, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.
Among them was Swedish freestyle skier, Elis Lundholm, who became the first trans man to compete at the Winter Olympics during the women’s freestyle skiing tournament. He came 25th in qualification round two with a score of 12.05 in the first round and 59.22 in the second.
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