When Olympic diver Tom Daley announced in 2013 that he was in a romantic relationship with a man and could not feel “happier,” his announcement was an act of courage that, with its weirdness, exposed how the sport's highest standards were not. considered a safe site by most LGBTQ athletes.

So the number of gay Olympians who felt they could and were willing to talk openly about their private lives could be counted on a few hands. There had been just a score of gay Olympians among the more than 10,000 who competed in the 2012 London Games, a reflection of how unrepresentative top-level sports were just a decade ago and still are to some extent.

However, the landscape is changing in Tokyo.

A wave of pride, openness and acceptance is sweeping through the pools, skateboard parks, grounds and arenas in Tokyo, with a record number of openly gay competitors. While LGBTQ invisibility used to make Olympic sports out of date, Tokyo is proving a turning point - they are finally better reflecting human diversity.

"It was time for everyone to be who they are and be celebrated for it," said American skateboarding competitor Alexis Sablone, one of at least five openly LGBTQ athletes in her sport, who is making her Olympic debut in Tokyo.

"We hope that means that even outside the world of sports children are raised not just on the assumption that they are heterosexual."

Gay portal Outsports.com has been tabulating the number of openly LGBTQ athletes in Tokyo. After several counts, the total is now 168, including some who asked to be included on the list. That's three times the number counted by Outsports at the Rio Games in 2016. In London it counted just 23.

"The huge increase in the number of openly (LGBTQ) athletes reflects the growing acceptance in sport and society," says Outsports.

SOURCE: Associated Press