Trans Olympic hopeful Keelin Godsey tells his story

From Our Group:

On July 21, 2012, I competed at the US Track and Field Olympic Trials in the women’s hammer throw. I competed as the first out female-to-male transgender athlete pre-medical transition. However, this was my second time competing at the Olympic Trials. At the 2008 Trials, I was closeted and placed seventh. This year, however, I was out and placed fifth. I only missed the team by a hair.

The major difference between the Beijing and the London trials was that I was fully, publicly out and everyone knew. My competitors knew. Their coaches knew. Everyone in my field knew. Prior to the games I was inundated with emails and messages, from all sorts of different people about my story and what they thought about it. Dealing with the pressure was a new avenue that I learned to navigate. I trained for 10 years to make the US team. I already had enough pressure on myself to make the team. At the same time, I felt additional pressure to succeed on behalf of the transgender community. Even though there was no direct pressure, I did not want to disappoint all the people who said they looked up to me. I wanted to give them something to look up to.


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Video interview with trans athlete Keelin Godsey

Keelin Godsey is a world class hammer thrower. I've done hundreds of interviews with athletes over the past 30 years as a sports broadcaster and Keelin's story sticks to my bones, touches my heart, and opens my eyes like no other.

The transgender male recently excelled at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, competing for a spot on the women's hammer team. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Keelin the day after this competition. This video provides a glimpse into Keelin's story and the heart of an athletic champion.

A big thank you to my friend, Siobain Ryan, who donated her time and expertise as photographer and editor for this shoot.