Saturday evening saw the closing ceremony of the 9th Gay Games, presented by the Cleveland Foundation. GLAAD spent the Gay Games lifting up the stories of LGBT athletes, events, and celebrations over the course of the week.
One of the stories we brought you was that of Hlengiwe Buthelezi, a South African athlete and leader within the Gay Games Federation. Hlengiwe won 3 gold medals in the track events, then called into the D & Davis Show on Chicagoland Sports Radio. While talking to D & Davis, Hlengiwe answered questions about the LGBT friendliness of Cleveland, the state of LGBT equality in South Africa, and her work to create an LGBT sports league in her hometown of Durban. Take a listen to her interview:
The other major story coming out of the Gay Games was that of Ida Keeling of New York City. Ida is a 99-year old sprinter who competed in the 100-meter dash. Ida came in last, but her daughter, Shelley Keeling, said that Ida set a record for her age category at an international competition. Her story was covered by the Akron Beacon Journal, Washington Post, Independent News-UK, and the Associated Press, who put out this video:
As the Gay Games looks forward to Paris in 2018, we will continue to see inspirational stories come from Cleveland. GLAAD will continue to life up the stories of LGBT athletes at the amateur and professional level and partner with programs like the Gay Games.