Paris women's handball (not volleyball) team video souvenir book from Cologne

Apologies to Décalage (and to everyone else): I wrote "volleyball" when I meant "handball".

Under the influence of Marielle Bousquet:

Video from "One More Lesbian": Wrestling at Gay Games VIII

View more Gay Games VIII videos from "One More Lesbian" HERE.

Flashback: Memorial quilt ceremony at Cologne City Hall, Gay Games VIII

"One More Lesbian" video: Women's basketball at Gay Games VIII

View more Gay Games VIII videos from "One More Lesbian" HERE.

Paris Football Club Arc en ciel's video slide show of Gay Games VIII

My guess is that if we see more Koelsch action than football action, it's because the photographer was on the field during the matches...

A look back at Team Colorado's Gay Games VIII blog

During Gay Games VIII, Sonya Lewis and Team Colorado followed team news on their dedicated blog, which you can find HERE. Some of these posts were also posted here in our "live from Cologne" series, but you'll find them all, and more on this fun blog.

Eurout report on Gay Games VIII cheerleading competition

A look back at Eurout's coverage of Gay Games VIII, with this report on the cheerleading competition:

So to get to see the cheerleading, live, right in front of my eyes was almost like one of my secret little dreams come true. Cheerleaders from San Francisco, New York and LA all gathered at Neumarkt for yet another Gay Games, but this year was different for them because this time they actually had a tournament too, but not before giving an unforgettable show the day before.

It was quite spectacular! The display of athletics and sportsmanship was very much a part of this and it was every bit as exciting as I imagined it would be. When I try to pinpoint what I like best about it, I decided it was the way the spectators are completely drawn in. At one point I looked around me and they too were chanting and cheering and clapping their hands like they were every bit a part of the display, just as much as the gymnasts themselves. The energy from the squad rippled through the crowds and people were just drawn to the stage from all around. So much so that I made a mental note to arrive earlier the next day for good viewing opportunities, and good thing I did because it seemed as if word had spread about how electric they had been and the audience had more than doubled. Not even the near monsoon sent people away and they just stood and cheered and got soaked right until the results came through.

Read the full post HERE.

Tsunami synchro pairs at Gay Games VIII

Michele Kraus and Bob Wheeler of San Francisco Tsunami swim club.

Philipp and Christian's video diary

FGG Volunteer of the Year Philipp Lischke and his partner Christian Skaar have posted a great video of their time in Cologne.

Link:

"Be Part of It", a fabulous documentary from QueerComrades.com

One of the best overviews of the Gay Games, with a focus on their impact on Chinese participants, is found in Be Part of It, a new documentary from FGG partner organization QueerComrades.com, using footage and interviews from Gay Games VIII.

View it on their website: part 1 and part 2.

Highly recommended!

Sport climbing gold

Sport Climbing is new to the Gay Games. Here's a video of a gold medal effort from Gay Games VIII:

Football slide show

IGLFA has posted a great slide show of the IGLFA world championship at Gay Games VIII. View it HERE.

Look back at Track and Field: A mainstream official's point of view

Gay Games VIII were fortunate to have the support of many mainstream organizations that provided equipment, officials, and expertise. Among these was the regional track and field association (LVN Koeln/Rhein-Erft). The head of the association, Detlev Ackermann, provided this report, which we have attempted to translate. You can read the original German HERE.

On Saturday evening Gay Games VIII ended with a closing ceremony at Tanzbrunnen in Rheinpark. At these gay and lesbian "Olympic Games", some 10,000 participants from around the world came together. A week full of emotion, but also with critical voices:
"Why do they have their own 'Olympic Games'?"
"What does this have to do with integration?"
"Were the Gay Games even just a huge party, where sport played only a minor part?" asked some people.

In fact, the range of performance abilities in some sports was huge, including in track and field. There were for example age groups where the results were not significant because of lack of participants. While some sport organisers, showing a bit of envy, criticized the use of public funds for such an event, for Games Cologne Co-President Annette Wachter actions spoke louder than words, with the awarding of 12,000 medals, and the setting of 29 world records.

While the "real" Olympics are overshadowed by doping cases, debates on the causes of failure, and defeats that are inevitably accompanied by shame, Cologne experienced an entirely different sport atmosphere. Here, the priority was not placement or the number of medals won, but rather the message "Be part of it."

Be part of it, no matter your skin color, your religion, your sexual orientation. It was a sporting event where you might not always have found the absolute best performances, but where you always were able to share the fun and joy of practicing your sport.

The result was a consistently great atmosphere among all involved, and an event that took place at quite high a level. The importance given to participation encouraged athletes to register for disciplines where they might not have been as strong, but in which they wanted to test themselves. There was support for this again and again from other athletes and spectators, with lots of applause from supporters at the competitions, and it was usually the slowest runners who garnered the greatest applause. In the hammer throw, there was already applause as soon as the ball simply left the cage. These signs of respect from athletes for each other are too often missing in sport.

But the Gay Games were not only for recreational athletes. Top athletes, including world record holders, took part, for example Annette Weiss from Siegburg, who won four gold medals (800m, 1500m, 2000m and 3000m Steeplechase).

Everything went smoothly. In track and field, each day 50 judges and other staff from the LVN were present. Many had taken holidays to help at this event. There was also support from many LVN volunteers, and many participants from our organization, including a team made up of judges in the 4x100m relay. The board of the national union LVN Cologne/Rhine-Erft supported the event in various ways. And we are pleased to hear via the rumor mill that track and field was one of the best organized sports of Gay Games VIII.

One representative of the many great encounters and stories this week was Horst Bödeker. This self-described straight "old fart" born in 1936 participated at the Gay Games totally free from prejudice. He completed a very successful 200m with a time of 35.39 seconds. On the last day of track and field, there was a problem for an American 4x400 relay team, which lacked a member. Bödeker immediately made himself available and supported the Americans with his skills, leading this Germano-American team to a Gold medal.

Matthew Mitcham at FGG Gay Games VIII press conference

Rik Magazine/Inqueery.de, a Gay Games VIII media sponsor, has put together this clip of Matthew Mitcham at the FGG press conference.

Deutsche Welle radio story on inclusion in Gay Games

A nice story from Deutsche Welle radio's English service on Gay Games VIII, with a focus on inclusion, in particular of older athletes.

Team Ireland success

Gaelick has a great report on Team Ireland's performance in Cologne. Read the whole story HERE. Here's an extract:

Team Ireland’s first medal of the tournament was won by Nick Flanagan, who picked up silver in the 50m backstroke and who set a new personal best. In the Triathlon event on the same day, competitors Eithne Ni Longphuirt and Yvonne Delaney picked up medals of gold and silver, respectively, in their classes.

Poolside, Ireland’s Vivenne picked up a gold, silver and a bronze. Celebrate diversity, what? Meanwhile, Ireland win a medal in the 10k road race through the forest near Cologne, with Louise Cavanagh taking the bronze.

Nick Flanagan strikes again in the 4×50m medley, winning the gold. And Ireland’s terrific women won bronze in the 200m relay. Eilis Burns went on to take gold in the 100m breaststroke and break the Irish record for her age group. Go girl!

By the evening of 4th August, there were at least 14 medals for Team Ireland’s Cork contingent. Within under three days of that, the total number of medals increased by 7. Still awaiting the full tally for Team Ireland. GO TEAM!

Belgian video podcast from Gay Games VIII

Two video reports from the Belgian website GayLive.be [website] [Youtube Channel].

First Video
In Keulen gingen dit jaar de Gay Games door. Ook heel wat Belgen waren er actief. Gaylive zocht er enkele op.

[English] This year the Gay Games were in Cologne. Many Belgians participated and GayLive.be looked at a few in this videocast.

EurOut Report: Gay Games Portrait: US dancers Heather Brockett and Sunny Williams

Report from Gay Games Cologne by Anna McFaith at EurOut.org.

I admire everyone who plays a sport. I admire everyone who is good at a sport even more.

Now, I believe there are sports everyone can play and, with enough training, be relatively good at. I, however, firmly believe no one will ever be able to teach me how to properly dance. I tried it, stepped on a lot of toes and had to be mostly dragged over the dance floor by my girlfriend. I can laugh at my own faults, but not even I will attempt any form of dancing again.

That said, watching the women’s dance sport competition made me wish my muscles had any memory at all besides basic motor functions. Graceful, passionate and infinitely elegant. It describes all dancers competing in the 18+ finals, but the love vibe only comes from one pair of dancers.

Their names are Heather Brockett and Sunny Williams and we met them at the internet cafe we used to upload all our Gay Games articles during the Gay Games week.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

When you forget your autograph book...

photo Manfredocgn/pumart.biz

Matthew Mitcham made a very popular appearance at the venue for swimming at Gay Games VIII. A bathing cap that will never be used again in the pool...

An unseasonal entry in Show Dance