"The Road to Cologne": Donald Alexander

Here's an extract of a profile of a Gay Games VIII athlete. Read the full profile in Living in the Queer Times HERE:

June 27–Having played sports in high school, college and in the army, I naturally segued into the first Gay Games held in San Francisco, and then four Games after that.

While on a trip to San Francisco, I talked with Tom Waddell (sp?) about his Olympic experience in Mexico City competing in the decathlon and got enthused about track and field events, especially the javelin. With little training and expertise, I competed in the first Games with Tom and others and got walloped. I then told Tom we should have the games more often than every four years because I would be, obviously, four years older, and he said, “We’ll all be four years older.”

So I came back home to Los Angeles, bought several tapes recorded by former Olympians in throwing the javelin, the discus, the shot put and hammer, plus some tapes on running. Subsequently, I competed in four more Gay Games – in Vancouver, New York, Amsterdam and Sydney, missing the second one in San Francisco and Chicago, winning about 25 or 26 medals, 20 being gold.