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KATRINA ALLEN LOOKS AHEAD TO THIS YEAR’S GAY GAMES
PHOTO CHRISTIAN WEISCHE
The Gay Games is a huge sporting event and, like the Olympics, is held every four years.
It first took place in San Francisco in 1982, featuring 17 sports, 12 nations and 1,350 participants. It was a huge success, making it clear that this LGBT+ sporting celebration would continue. Since then, it’s been held in cities such as Vancouver, New York, Amsterdam, Sydney and Cologne. Each time, the numbers have increased. By 2006 there were 30 sports and cultural events, 70 nations and 11,700 participants. And this year, the sporting extravaganza is to be held in Paris.
The Gay Games was initially known as the Gay Olympics, but objections were raised by the Olympic committee and the name was changed. This was arguably a reasonable request since the whole ethos of the Gay Games is about inclusion, not just within the community, but also across various standards, which go from beginner to expert. The Olympics, of course, is all about excellence, world-class athletes within their sport. The events are vast and varied. From synchronised swimming to pétanque or wrestling, you name it… the full list of sports can be found at paris2018.com/sports-list.