Although the Olympic games feature some successful gay and lesbian athletes, it appears that out athletes make up a tiny minority of the Olympic village.

Matthew Mitcham, image from Australia's Olympic Committee

We recently reported on ten out homosexual athletes, one gay man and nine lesbians. Those ten athletes make up the entirety of the admitted gay presence in the games.

Ten out of the 10,500 athletes competing in the games is surely well under the actual number of gays competing. Outsports estimates that the real number is probably closer to 1000, but that many gays and lesbians are afraid to come out. It said: "For all we know, there is a gay rower or badminton player somewhere known as gay within his or her sport but not in a larger public context."

Many gay athletes wish to stay firmly in the closet, and many of them have good reason to. While there’s the obvious fear of disapproval for some, there’s also the financial side to consider.

Most of the athletes at the Olympics play sports that don’t pay million pound salaries. They earn what money they can from winning competitions and signing endorsement deals. Those lucrative endorsements could be threatened if an athlete comes out.

Consider the case of Greg Louganis, the American Olympic diver. Although a popular figure and a gold medallist, he found endorsement deals hard to come by once he came out. It will be interesting to see whether recently out Australian diver Matthew Mitcham faces the same issue.

However, Outsports posits that the lack of out gay athletes may have more to do with the mental dedication required to be an Olympian and the media attention gay athletes would attract.

Outsports said: "The vast majority of Olympic athletes are under 30, a time when even people who are not elite jocks are wrestling with their sexuality. Being an Olympic athlete requires full-time dedication and a lot of things get put on hold. It is just easier to hide and deal with one's sexuality later."

Related Articles:

Olympics Feature Proud Gay Athletes, Couples
Australian Olympic Athlete Announces He's Gay

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