Celebrate Pride with Olympic Channel!

Celebrating diversity is a huge part of the Olympic Movement.

At Olympic Channel, we've been delighted to give LGBT+ athletes a platform to tell their truths about overcoming prejudice to find success in their chosen sports.

To mark Pride Month, we've put together some of our best content for you to enjoy.

Identify

This ground-breaking Webby Award-winning series of short films followed five transgender athletes as they strived to make their mark in sport, and find their true identity.

Episode 1 saw transgender volleyball player Chloe Anderson head to UC-Santa Cruz and meet her new team-mates for the first time.

Pat Manuel was the subject of Episode 2. As a woman, Manuel won five national amateur boxing titles and competed at the American trials for London 2012 but was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury.

A year later, Manuel started gender reassignment therapy before fighting again as an amateur in 2016.

The film covers his resentment at the way his body changed during puberty, why he decided to make the transition to woman to man, and how a USA Boxing administrator helped him fight again as a man.

Manuel also talks about how several of his intended opponents were 'no-shows' after finding out he was trans, and his relationship with his girlfriend.

Since the film was shot, the 33-year-old has become the first transgender boxer to have, and win, a professional fight in the United States.

Episode 3 looks at Canadian ice hockey player Harrison Browne who had just started his medical transition which stopped him playing for Buffalo Beauts of the WNHL.

He talks about how he felt like he was "coming out all over again" after initially coming out as gay to his family and friends.

In Episode 4, Harvard University swimmer Schuyler Bailar talks about how transitioning from a woman to man helped him find peace after a broken back at high school sent him into a deep depression.

The fifth and final episode looks at Team USA duathlete and triathlete athlete Chris Mosier who was pivotal in lobbying the IOC to rule in 2016 that transgender athletes can compete without undergoing surgery.

The series is a moving and eye-opening look at the issues people face when they have been misgendered, and how sport can help them find their identity.

Rippon leads PyeongChang LGBT+ heroes

He might not have stood atop of the podium, but Adam Rippon won more than his fair share of admirers at PyeongChang 2018.

Rippon and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy were the first 'out and proud' athletes to represent USA at the Winter Olympics.

At 28, Rippon admitted he was "old" for a first-time Olympian in figure skating and even called his team-mates Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou his sons.

But it was his eloquence and charm off the ice which made him one of the stars of the Games.

After receiving criticism on social media - stemming from his spat with American vice-president Mike Pence who he saw as anti-LGBT rights - Rippon responded with this Tweet.

And Rippon did not fail, helping USA to team bronze before competing in the individual event.

With his lack of quad jumps, he was never likely to challenge the likes of gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu, but Rippon's artistry and musical interpretation impressed everyone.

PyeongChang was his last competitive skate with Rippon's star rising further thanks to victory on a special series of Dancing With The Stars and guest appearances on shows including Ru Paul's Drag Race.

He is now in huge demand as a host and after-dinner speaker, and it's easy to see why.

Rippon may have moved on to the next phase of his life, but his Olympic experience is one that will stay with him forever.

Rippon's Team USA colleague Kenworthy is also a strong advocate for LBGT+ rights.

The Sochi 2014 silver medallist has worked on humanitarian projects, and went to a refugee camp in Uganda with Olympic Channel as part of our Camps to Champs series.

It was a project which carried some personal risk to the American.

Uganda had only recently rescinded its Anti-Homosexuality Act but, to this day, LGBT+ people remain vulnerable to violent attacks.

While at PyeongChang 2018, Kenworthy and Canadian pairs skater Eric Radford both spoke about being gay men in sport.

Radford came out after Sochi 2014 and, at PyeongChang, became the first out gay man to win a Winter Olympic gold medal as he and Meagan Duhamel helped Canada to the team title.

He told Olympic Channel about how he has helped other LGBT+ athletes to feel more comfortable with who they are, and changed attitudes in his home town in Ontario.

Men's football still lagging in diversity stakes

After Sweden's Women's World Cup last-16 win over Canada, Magdalena Eriksson was greeted by her girlfriend, Denmark star Pernille Harder.

With the Danes failing to qualify for the tournament in France, Harder has been supporting her partner and wore a replica of Eriksson's shirt in the stands.

Their kiss on the sidelines went viral.

While gay women in football are increasingly commonplace, the same cannot be said of the men's game.

For example, in 2017 in the UK, 3.7 percent of men aged 16-24 and 3.6 percent of those aged 25-34 identified as gay or bisexual.

Yet there is not one 'out and proud' footballer in the English Premier League or the three divisions below that.

That disparity, which is reflected worldwide, was questioned by Eriksson's team-mate and fellow Rio 2016 silver medallist Nilla Fischer in an Olympic Channel podcast.

Fischer is a veteran of the Sweden squad with the defender passing 175 caps in France.

She spoke about coming out as a lesbian and how she received abuse for wearing a rainbow armband while captaining Wolfsburg in a league match.

While there are no openly gay footballers in England's four professional men's divisions, there is one referee in the shape of Ryan Atkin.

He also appears on the podcast and says attitudes towards homosexuality are improving in the English game.

It is 50 years since the Stonewall riots in New York City which became pivotal in the fight against homophobia and transphobia in the United States and across the world.

Now sport - not before time - is playing its part in allowing LGBT+ people to live their lives like everybody else.