From Bruce Arthur in the National Post:
LONDON — In 2010, the Vancouver Olympics featured the first Pride House, and a speed skater from New Zealand named Blake Skjellerup dropped by one day. When he publicly came out as a gay man later that year, he cited a couple things in his decision: Seeing how comfortable out Australian diver Matthew Mitcham was in 2008 in Beijing, and that small, welcoming space at the intersection of Davie and Bute.
The Pride House in London is a part-time affair, moving around and hosting various events, and occasionally renting two rooms in a little brick building next to a marina in East London. It is a minnow in the Olympic ocean, but an important one. And in 2014, it will not exist.
“It’s like a flag in the sand,” said Louise Englefield, who is running Pride House here, and who founded the equality-based group Pride Sports. “It’s a visible place that allows LGBT people to have a place in the Olympic movement, that we really have a place in the Games. And since there are only 23 out athletes at these Games …”
There will be no Pride House in 2014 in Sochi, due to a ruling from a Russian judge outlawing the promotion of homosexuality. Pride House here was given support, if not outright approval, by the London organizing committee; the International Olympic Committee, however, has refused to take a stance on the matter. It banned South Africa from the Games from 1964 to 1991 over apartheid, but it won’t weigh in on this.
“We aren’t responsible for the running of or setting up of Houses,” says IOC spokesman Mark Adams. “That is done by the [National Olympic Committees] or other relevant organizations. So in this case it isn’t a decision of either us, or the organizing committee in Sochi. From our side, the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the Games.”
“That’s a lie,” says ex-NBA player John Amaechi, who is doing commentary for the BBC here, and who is out. “They have no backbone. Look, [South Africa] was perhaps the only notable, noble thing that the IOC has ever done. It’s the only outspoken, outstanding, political move that made them, for just a brief moment, worth their existence. The idea that they have differentiated between race and other things is truly, truly worthy. Because what’s the explanation? Being racist is important. They’re explicitly saying that being racist is important, we won’t allow it, but being homophobic is okay.
“There’s already a lie. I would say implicit, but it’s not, it’s a very explicit lie within sports, and within the Olympics especially. Because most sports have rhetoric about fairness and equality and that type of stuff, but really only the Olympics … have at their core a set of five principles, one of which is that sports is a human right. Which means everybody, and it’s a very eloquent way of saying sports is for everybody.
“And so you’re in this situation — it’s not simply that the Pride House isn’t happening [in Sochi] because there’s no funding, or because there’s no interest. It’s explicitly not allowed. So by doing that you have already said sport is not for everybody. Explicitly, there are people who are not allowed to do sport, and if they are allowed to do sport, they must do it in a way that suits us.”
Outsports.com counts 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes at these Olympics, compared with 10 in Beijing and 11 in Athens, but just three men: two in dressage, including gold medallist Carl Hester, and Mitcham. Among the women, Megan Rapinoe won gold in women’s soccer after coming out just before the Games; German cyclist Judith Arndt won silver in the cycling road race.
But that is 23 publicly LGBT athletes out of nearly 11,000, one of whom, South African archer Karen Kultzer, came out to Outsports during the Games. “I am an archer, middle aged and a lesbian,” she said in a statement. “I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee. None of these aspects define who I am.”
Amaechi says there are seven out male athletes at the Games before being corrected; he demurs, wondering how many are publicly out. But he says, “Oh, there’s a lot more than that.”
“There are plenty of athletes [at basketball], a number of them on the women’s team, and a number on the men’s teams, who have had a word with me privately,” says Amaechi. “There’s not one of the men who would meet me in a public place. Because they know there’s a danger there for them when they come back. What if you play for the Utah Jazz, and have a set of owners who are absurd? What if you play for the Orlando Magic, whose owners donate to [the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage], an organization that shouldn’t exist? What if you play in Russia? What if you play in China? Things aren’t as easy as we think for all these people.
“In most locker rooms in the NBA right now there are guys who are out, who bring their quote-unquote manager to every game. Some of them even have somebody who is their partner and people know about it, and come to the Christmas party. And it’s within the locker-room, and there’s no issue. They don’t talk to the media about it, nobody does, but it’s known within the locker-room, and it’s no big deal. Most of the guys have the Charles Barkley [attitude], which is, can you play?”
But they are not comfortable enough to be themselves in the public sphere. Athletes who have come out have often said they performed better afterwards — Rapinoe told reporters before the gold-medal game, “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before,” and that coming out was “a weight off my shoulders.”
But it’s not just the more gay-friendly countries of the world who could, or would, host this travelling carnival. The IOC wasn’t too worried about human rights in China, either. Englefield says the plan is to ask every national house to stage a Pride House for a day in Sochi, since trying to establish an independent one would invite prosecution. It’s a laudable goal; as Canadian chef de mission Mark Tewksbury says, “the big challenge is Sochi. That’s where it’s really needed.”
“I think the most important thing,” says Englefield, “is what are the IOC going to do now?”
National Post
Featured events
| 7-9 September 2012 Brussels Games Brussels  Learn more HERE. | 26-28 October 2012 QueergamesBern Bern, Switzerland  The success of the first edition of the QueergamesBern proved the need for an LGBT multisport event in Switzerland. This year will be even bigger, with badminton, bowling, running, walking, floorball. Learn more HERE. | 17-20 January 2013 Sin City Shootout Las Vegas  Learn more HERE. | 13-16 June 2013 IGLFA Euro Cup Dublin  Learn more HERE. |
Showing posts with label Blake Skjellerup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blake Skjellerup. Show all posts
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
TIME on Olympic homophobia
A great article from TIME, with interviews with Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup, Karen Hultzer, and Pride House's Lou Englefield
On Aug. 6, during the most dogged soccer match at the London Olympics, Megan Rapinoe blasted two shots past the Canadian goalie to help Team USA secure a spot in Thursday’s final. Even more impressive, however, may have been Rapinoe’s resolve when she came out as a lesbian just weeks before the Olympics. “I feel like sports in general are still homophobic,” she said in an interview with Out.com on July 5. “People want—they need—to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ U.S. of A.”
In the high-profile world of Olympic competition, Rapinoe is among a small, but growing number of gay athletes who have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation. According to Outsports, a media watchdog and sports news site, of the 14,690 athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, only 23 are openly gay. That’s around 0.16%. Even so, it’s a big improvement from the 2004 Games in Athens, which counted just 11 out athletes. In Beijing in 2008 there were only 10.
Their reasons for keeping a low profile vary, but closeted Olympians share one thing in common: they have trained their entire lives to represent their countries at the Games. Coming out, they fear, could cause sponsors to pull out of deals, and negative stereotypes may leave coaches and teammates questioning their abilities. “The most important thing to every athlete is their position and standing,” says Blake Skjellerup, a gay speed-skater who represented New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics. “They wouldn’t want anything as trivial as their sexuality to jeopardize that.”
The organizers behind Pride House—”a welcoming space for all athletes, staff, spectators and friends”—hope to show that being gay and being competitive aren’t incompatible. To that end they’ve organized informal gatherings, like a recent 5K run, are staging an exhibition on gay athletes, and provide a space for athletes and non-athletes alike to watch the Olympics. “We’re putting a little flag in the sand and saying that within this environment, which isn’t inclusive and welcoming, we are an inclusive and welcoming space,” says Louise Englefield, the founding director of Pride Sports, an LGBT sports development and equality organization. “If that means that people realize there is an alternative then great.”
The inaugural Pride House at the Vancouver Games played a big role in Skjellerup coming out. Although he had told his family ahead of the Olympics, he had not contemplated coming out publicly. He sat at a Starbucks opposite the house before deciding to step inside. After strolling through a photo exhibition of gay athletes—think of Olympic gold medalists like Greg Louganis and Matt Mitcham—he soon found himself telling staff members his secret. “It was quite a big thing coming out to strangers,” he says. “I felt really good with myself after doing that.”
Coming out seems more daunting for male athletes. Of the 23 out Olympians this year, only four are men. “Constructions of masculinity within sport are incredibly rigid,” says Englefield, adding that the “macho environment” entrenches homophobia. It’s a different story for gay women. “Lesbians who maybe don’t conform to heterosexual stereotypes of femininity can just get on with it and be themselves.”
No gay athlete—closeted or not—wants to hear homophobic slurs bandied about in the locker room. And yet fighting against more than just your opponent may partly explain the success of openly gay sportsmen and women at the Olympics. “When you’re closeted, it’s quite hard on you mentally,” says Skjellerup. “But there is a lot of mental toughness that comes with being an athlete. For me homophobic comments actually spear me on and encourage me more.”
He may not be alone. Outsports has identified 104 out athletes who have participated in Summer Games. More than half of them have won Olympic medals. Gay men and lesbians seem poised for similar success in London. Equestrian Carl Hester became the first out athlete to win gold in this Olympics as part of British dressage team. Other notables include German Judith Arndt, who bagged a silver in cycling, and American Lisa Raymond, who walked off the tennis court with a bronze. Other likely medalists include Seimone Augustus, a star of the U.S. women’s basketball team, Rapinoe, of the U.S. soccer squad, and four members of Holland’s field hockey team.
Read more: HERE
On Aug. 6, during the most dogged soccer match at the London Olympics, Megan Rapinoe blasted two shots past the Canadian goalie to help Team USA secure a spot in Thursday’s final. Even more impressive, however, may have been Rapinoe’s resolve when she came out as a lesbian just weeks before the Olympics. “I feel like sports in general are still homophobic,” she said in an interview with Out.com on July 5. “People want—they need—to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ U.S. of A.”
In the high-profile world of Olympic competition, Rapinoe is among a small, but growing number of gay athletes who have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation. According to Outsports, a media watchdog and sports news site, of the 14,690 athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, only 23 are openly gay. That’s around 0.16%. Even so, it’s a big improvement from the 2004 Games in Athens, which counted just 11 out athletes. In Beijing in 2008 there were only 10.
Their reasons for keeping a low profile vary, but closeted Olympians share one thing in common: they have trained their entire lives to represent their countries at the Games. Coming out, they fear, could cause sponsors to pull out of deals, and negative stereotypes may leave coaches and teammates questioning their abilities. “The most important thing to every athlete is their position and standing,” says Blake Skjellerup, a gay speed-skater who represented New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics. “They wouldn’t want anything as trivial as their sexuality to jeopardize that.”
The organizers behind Pride House—”a welcoming space for all athletes, staff, spectators and friends”—hope to show that being gay and being competitive aren’t incompatible. To that end they’ve organized informal gatherings, like a recent 5K run, are staging an exhibition on gay athletes, and provide a space for athletes and non-athletes alike to watch the Olympics. “We’re putting a little flag in the sand and saying that within this environment, which isn’t inclusive and welcoming, we are an inclusive and welcoming space,” says Louise Englefield, the founding director of Pride Sports, an LGBT sports development and equality organization. “If that means that people realize there is an alternative then great.”
The inaugural Pride House at the Vancouver Games played a big role in Skjellerup coming out. Although he had told his family ahead of the Olympics, he had not contemplated coming out publicly. He sat at a Starbucks opposite the house before deciding to step inside. After strolling through a photo exhibition of gay athletes—think of Olympic gold medalists like Greg Louganis and Matt Mitcham—he soon found himself telling staff members his secret. “It was quite a big thing coming out to strangers,” he says. “I felt really good with myself after doing that.”
Coming out seems more daunting for male athletes. Of the 23 out Olympians this year, only four are men. “Constructions of masculinity within sport are incredibly rigid,” says Englefield, adding that the “macho environment” entrenches homophobia. It’s a different story for gay women. “Lesbians who maybe don’t conform to heterosexual stereotypes of femininity can just get on with it and be themselves.”
No gay athlete—closeted or not—wants to hear homophobic slurs bandied about in the locker room. And yet fighting against more than just your opponent may partly explain the success of openly gay sportsmen and women at the Olympics. “When you’re closeted, it’s quite hard on you mentally,” says Skjellerup. “But there is a lot of mental toughness that comes with being an athlete. For me homophobic comments actually spear me on and encourage me more.”
He may not be alone. Outsports has identified 104 out athletes who have participated in Summer Games. More than half of them have won Olympic medals. Gay men and lesbians seem poised for similar success in London. Equestrian Carl Hester became the first out athlete to win gold in this Olympics as part of British dressage team. Other notables include German Judith Arndt, who bagged a silver in cycling, and American Lisa Raymond, who walked off the tennis court with a bronze. Other likely medalists include Seimone Augustus, a star of the U.S. women’s basketball team, Rapinoe, of the U.S. soccer squad, and four members of Holland’s field hockey team.
Read more: HERE
Friday, July 27, 2012
Blake Skjellerup featured in Sydney Star Observer article
In 2010, New Zealand’s Olympic speed ice skater Blake Skjellerup did what few elite athletes will ever risk: he publicly came out as a gay man.
What sets Skjellerup apart from other Olympic athletes who have come out though, is that he revealed his sexuality during his career.
[...]
Two years since Skjellerup came out in an interview, he admitted he had not received any backlash or negative feedback for the move.
“The one thing that has changed is that I have a greater support base behind me in terms of people who know about me and my career,” he said.
“I think its important for anybody to just take part and feel like they can do sport. The gay community is extremely under-represented still in sport and I must admit, when I was growing up I had trouble finding someone I could relate to, not just with my sexuality but also in my sport.
“The more people who are out there being open and honest and not afraid to share who it is they are, I think the better because it’s still hard for some people to come to terms with their sexuality. If they have someone to look up to and to relate with, then it makes that journey a whole lot easier.”
Outside of training and competitions, Skjellerup is a Federation of Gay Games ambassador.
Along with Australian Olympians, diver Matthew Mitcham and cyclist Michelle Ferris, the speed skater advocates for the games and encourages people to get involved.
Kate Rowe, Australian/New Zealand ambassador manager for the Federation of Gay Games, said more athletes like Skjellerup were needed.
“For me, it’s very important that we have some younger role models because they’re the future,” she said.
The Ambassadors are not paid for their work but meet community members at events like the Midsumma Festival to stir up interest.
It would have taken a lot of courage to come out as an Olympic athlete, Rowe said, because he has not retired yet.
“With people like Blake and Matthew, who are still elite athletes, they’re almost putting their careers at risk because they know it may affect the sponsorship dollars,” she said.
“I think it is brave and the more people like Matthew and Blake who are prepared to stand up and be themselves and still want to continue in their sport, that’s how the barriers will be broken down.”
The next Gay Games will be held in 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio, making the next two years a mighty effort.
[...]
Read in full HERE.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Blake Skjellerup cycles from Melbourne to Sydney
(It's a long trip!)
Remember that Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup is seeking your support for his training for the 2014 Olympics! And a share of your donation goes to the Canterbury [Christchurch, NZ] Earthquake Children’s Trust.
DONATE HERE: www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/blakeskjellerrupforgold
blakeskjellerup.com
Remember that Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup is seeking your support for his training for the 2014 Olympics! And a share of your donation goes to the Canterbury [Christchurch, NZ] Earthquake Children’s Trust.
DONATE HERE: www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/blakeskjellerrupforgold
blakeskjellerup.com
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
How about a birthday gift to help get Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup to Sochi?
13 June is the birthday of Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup. He's a great guy and an advocate for LGBT youth, and could use your help to fund his journey to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. A share of donations will go to earthquake relief for his hometown of Christchurch, NZ.
Donation link : http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/blakeskjellerrupforgold
www.blakeskjellerup.com
www.facebook.com/TheBlakeSkjellerup
www.twitter.com/BlakeSkjellerup
Instagram : BlakeSkjellerup
www.orcon.net.nz
www.mightyape.co.nz
www.wisecouncil.co.nz
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
How about a birthday gift to help Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup to Sochi?
13 June is the birthday of Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup. He's a great guy and an advocate for LGBT youth, and could use your help to fund his journey to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. A share of donations will go to earthquake relief for his hometown of Christchurch, NZ.
Donation link : http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/blakeskjellerrupforgold
www.blakeskjellerup.com
www.facebook.com/TheBlakeSkjellerup
www.twitter.com/BlakeSkjellerup
Instagram : BlakeSkjellerup
www.orcon.net.nz
www.mightyape.co.nz
www.wisecouncil.co.nz
Friday, May 18, 2012
Blake Skjellerup's tweet for IDAHO
Follow Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup on Twitter @BlakeSkjellerup
Monday, April 2, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
9 March 2012 / Good luck to Blake Skjellerup at World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Shanghai
Check you local TV listings!
More later!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Re-united at Midsumma
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Report on Blake Skjellerup's performance in Shanghai
An injury-enforced break has led to the perfect end to the pre-Christmas speed skating season for Christchurch's Blake Skjellerup.
The 26-year-old finished 10th in the 1000m in the latest World Cup round in Shanghai, China, finishing second in the C final.
A fall two months ago meant four weeks' rest for Skjellerup and the result is better than he was expecting with a limited buildup, and ties his best result, achieved in 2008.
Skjellerup has recently moved from his Calgary base to Melbourne and works with Australian national coach Ann Zhang.
He finished fourth in his initial heat and was forced to go through the repechages which proved dramatic. A second in his first repechage race qualified the New Zealand champion and Olympian to the repechage quarterfinals. He won the slowest of four races at that stage and in the semifinals was tripped while ahead and given a pass through to the main draw with race winner Pan To Barton Lui (Hong Kong). Skjellerup then finished third in the main draw quarterfinal to reach the C final in which he came third.
Manager Matt Andree Wiltens, speaking from New Zealand, said Skjellerup was "over the moon" with his result. "Especially after the injury break," he said. "It says really great things about Blake's new training regime in Melbourne." Skjellerup will return home for a Christmas break before, funding permitting, heading to Moscow and Heerenveen (Netherlands) for the last two World Cup meets. He will then attend the World Championships in Shanghai in March.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Pride House London launch
Friday 9 December saw the official launch of the project at "London's Living Room" at the top of City Hall. Among those attending were Gay Games Ambassador John Amaechi, Pride Sports Lou Englefield, and FGG representative Carl Schultz. Among the patrons not attending were Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup, with other Ambassadors on the way.
More on the launch HERE.
 |
| John Amaechi |
 |
| Carl Schulz (right) |
 |
| Lou Englefield (center) and Emma Reed, UK Government Equality Office (right) |
Monday, December 5, 2011
Best wishes to Blake Skjellerup this weekend in Shanghai!
You can follow the event HERE.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup gains sponsor for Olympic bid
Orcon to Sponsor NZ Olympic Speed-Skater
New Zealand short-track speed skater Blake Skjellerup has this month secured local internet company Orcon as a corporate sponsor of his campaign to compete at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
The Christchurch-born Olympian competed for New Zealand in the 2010 winter games in Vancouver, and has been seeking financial sponsorship from corporate backers and individuals since then as he trains and competes in the annual speed skating world cup competition circuit.
“Speed skating is one of the most popular of the winter Olympic sports,” explains Skjellerup “but in terms of mainstream acknowledgment it remains relatively unknown. I’m very grateful for this new partnership with Orcon which will enable me to spend more time focusing on my performance and training, and less time worrying about how to find the money I need to make it to the next Olympics.”
Orcon Chief Executive Scott Bartlett agreed, “We see a huge amount of potential in Blake to compete at the highest level and are thrilled to be a part of his campaign. Blake may not be a household name yet, but we’re confident that given the support he needs, he soon will be.”
“Our goal at Orcon is to be the best in terms of speed, precision and reliability, and Blake embodies all of those qualities. He has the spirit of a true kiwi battler taking on the world.”
This year has been a landmark one for 26-year-old Skjellerup who spent his off-season engaged in a nation-wide speaking tour of secondary schools. He was also the face of the Pink Shirt Day anti-bullying campaign, after which he was invited to meet with Prime Minister John Key to discuss bullying in New Zealand schools.
In June the Gay Auckland Business Association announced the establishment of a bank account enabling individuals to donate to Skjellerup’s Olympic campaign through his website (www.blakeskjellerup.com).
“This Orcon sponsorship means a great deal to my career as an athlete. These funds, along with those contributed through the GABA account, are a huge help. In order to make it to Sochi I will still need to raise more funds, but this is certainly a great start.”
Skjellerup’s 2011-12 season started strongly winning all three distances to take out the national title at the New Zealand Speed-Skating Championships held in Dunedin in August. He will next compete in the Skating Union World Cup held in Nagoya, Japan on December 2-4.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Best wishes to Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup at Australian championships
Info HERE.
FRIDAY 7th & SATURDAY 8th OCTOBER
Medibank Icehouse, the home of Australia's Olympic short track speed katers, is set to host the fastest event on ice this year! Over two big days, see local favourites and Olympic hopefuls as they fly around the rink at tremendous speeds and jostle to become the Nation's best. Enjoy the thrills and spills of this mesmerising sport in the comfort of the Henke Rink grandstand with seating for up to 1,000 spectators.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
First photo from Gay Games Ambassador welcome dinner
Friday, August 26, 2011
Congrats to Blake Skjellerup for new national title!
Skjellerup Takes National Title in Dunedin
Kiwi Olympic speed skater Blake Skjellerup has claimed his latest national title after a clean sweep at the New Zealand National Speed Skating Championships in Dunedin.
Skjellerup, who was New Zealand’s only speed skater at last year’s Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, won all four of his individual races in the two-day event as well as racing with his Auckland club’s relay team who also won their race.
The wins put Christchurch-born Skjellerup in good stead for the New Zealand Winter Games which are also running in Dunedin at the same time. The speed skating portion of the games begins on Saturday 27th with skaters from around the world competing.
Skjellerup said he was pleased with the results from his first competition of the season and looking forward to getting back into international competition.
“It’s always wonderful to be able to compete here at home and it felt great to be back out on the ice racing. It’s fantastic that New Zealand has the facilities to host international competitions like this and I hope people will take advantage of the fact that we have some international skaters here and come down and cheer on us locals.”
Off the ice, the openly gay athlete is heavily involved with community work including fronting the anti-bullying campaign Pink Shirt Day, conducting a nationwide diversity and acceptance tour through secondary schools, and appearing in the 2011 Red Nose Day TV commercial.
Skjellerup recently delivered the keynote address at the Human Rights Conference at the Vancouver Out Games and is next week being inducted as an ambassador to the Federation of Gay Games in Sydney.
Skjellerup is also spending time fundraising for his campaign for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia by approaching corporates, foundations and asking individuals to donate through his website www.blakeskjellerup.com.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Michelle Ferris to welcome new Gay Games Ambassadors at Sydney event
 |
| Gay Games Ambassadors Ferris, Mitcham, Leigh Ann Naidoo, John Amaechi at Gay Games VIII in Cologne, Germany in 2010 |
Two-time Olympic silver medallist Michelle Ferris will be on hand at the upcoming Federation of Gay Games 2011 New Ambassador Launch Dinner to officially welcome some new faces into the Gay Games family.
Ferris, who was appointed a Gay Games ambassador in 2008, will present fellow Australian athlete Matthew Mitcham and New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup as the two newest ambassadors. It’ll be a reunion of sorts for Ferris and Mitcham, who both travelled to the Cologne Gay Games last year to support the Australian contingent.
“It was a such a great atmosphere at Cologne — meeting all these people from around the world and enjoying not just the games, but the social side of it as well. I’m looking forward to catching up with Matthew and all the Team Sydney members, as well as welcoming Blake as an ambassador,” Ferris told the Star Observer.
Ferris said she’d suspected after last year’s trip that Mitcham would be eager to make his ties to the Federation of Gay Games official.
“After spending a couple of days with the other ambassadors and getting a feel of the family atmosphere there, after having firsthand experience of that, if you get to the end without wanting to be a part of it, there’d be something wrong really.”
The lavish gala dinner, to be held at the Hyde Park Marriott Hotel on September 1, is an opportunity for the 314 Team Sydney members who attended the Cologne games to reunite and relive their experiences. Dr Kerryn Phelps will MC the dinner, while Ferris will give a talk about her experiences as an ambassador.
INFO: Tickets to the dinner are limited and bookings are essential. Tickets are $70 for Team Sydney and SGLBA members, $80 for non-members. Visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/FGG or email TS_treasurer@teamsydney.org.au
Friday, August 19, 2011
Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup back home to compete
About the NZWG:
The 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games is unique in the world of winter sports. The concept was an initiative of Sir Eion Edgar.
First held in 2009, the Winter Games NZ is an elite, international winter sports competition, owned and run by the Winter Games New Zealand Trust with the support of the New Zealand Government, the New Zealand Olympic Committee and SPARC.
The Games were established to provide elite winter sports athletes with the opportunity to push the boundaries without the pressure to produce the perfect performance as in the Winter Olympics or the Winter X Games. It provides the ultimate testing ground where the athletes can experiment and explore their limits against world class competition.
Another unique factor for the 2009 Games was that all of Otago was involved - Queenstown, Wanaka, Naseby and Dunedin.
The Games Board set four clear objectives for these first Winter Games in 2009:
1. To attract 800 competitors and 400 supporters/team management to the Games
2. To successfully host a Winter Games NZ at an international level as per the requirements of the relevant international sports bodies.
3. To obtain an international television audience reach of 300 million primarily in New Zealand's target tourism markets.
4. To financially at least break even.
Not only were all four objectives met but the quality of the competitors competing exceeded all expectations and, significantly, the international media profile was excellent.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
1 September 2011 / Blake Skjellerup and Matthew Mitcham welcome dinner in Sydney
Sydney dinner set for launch of new Gay Games Ambassadors
Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham and Olympic speed skater Blake Skjellerup to speak at 1 September
dinner.
San Francisco, CA – (27 July 2011) - Elite athletes Matthew Mitcham and Blake Skjellerup will
be recognized as the latest Ambassadors of the international Federation of Gay Games at a dinner
organized in partnership with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Business Association and the support of Team Sydney on 1 September.
Their official welcome to the Gay Games family will be made by current Gay Games Ambassador,
Michelle Ferris, a former Olympic cyclist.
The master of ceremonies of the evening will be Professor Kerryn Phelps, the former President of
the Australian Medical Association and a familiar face to Australians over the last twenty five years during which time she has appeared regularly on television, radio and the print media informing the Australian public on health issues.
Both Matthew and Blake will be speaking at the dinner, sponsored by Proteus Leadership Centers
and supported by FGG member organization Team Sydney. A limited number of tickets for the event,
which will be held at the Marriott Hotel on 36 College Street in Darlinghurst, Sydney, may be booked on the SGLBA website at www.sglba.com.au. Tickets are AUD 70 for Team Sydney and SGLBA members, and AUD 80 for non-members.
Federation of Gay Games Vice President for External Affairs Marc Naimark (Paris), expressed his
thanks to the SGLBA: “The support of the local business community and of Prof. Phelps has been
key in making this evening a major event, worthy of these two young men, who are great athletes and outstanding human beings. We appreciate the help of our local member organization, Team Sydney, and of our regional Ambassador coordinator Kate Rowe, without whom this launch would not have been possible. I have had the pleasure of meeting both Blake and Matthew, and my only regret that I won’t be able to attend what promises to be a fantastic evening!”
For more information or photos regarding Gay Games Ambassadors, write to ambassadors@gaygames.org .
For information about the Federation of Gay Games, visit www.gaygames.org.
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