Outed athletes:inside as the face of the Eurogames Bern 2023

Maja Neuenschwander and Christa Wittwer are openly lesbian, Marco Lehmann and Curdin Orlik openly gay. The former top athletes are committed to more diversity and inclusion in sports and are the ambassadors of the Eurogames Bern 2023.

Maja Neuenschwander is a former Swiss record holder in the marathon, Christa Wittwer is a five-time Swiss champion in the javelin. Curdin Orlik and Marco Lehmann are the first active openly gay top athletes in Switzerland. Orlik came out publicly in 2020, professional basketball player Lehmann a year later.

The Eurogames Bern 2023 will take place from 26 to 29 July. 3500 athletes from all over Europe are expected to participate in 27 sports ranging from badminton, football, athletics and volleyball to chess, quidditch and roller derby.

The multisport event aims to make LGBTIQ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer) more visible in sports and is open to all - a concern that is important to the ambassadors. There were no gay role models in sports when he was young, says Curdin Orlik. "Not in wrestling anyway. And not really in other sports either. I would have liked that." Marco Lehmann would welcome it if heterosexual participants also took part in the EuroGames: "That way they experience that gay men are nothing out of the ordinary in sports." Christa Wittwer adds: "I have always been against exclusion. A colorful mix is important to me." Maja Neuenschwander sees sports as a simple yet powerful means of bringing people together: "Through sports, I easily find common ground with people with whom I would otherwise have no contact in everyday life."

LGBTIQ people to become visible in sports

Despite increasing acceptance, there is still a need to have a sports event within the community. "On the one hand, people want to play sports with like-minded people," says Sebastian Süess, Head of Event Operations at EuroGames Bern 2023, "and on the other hand, people want to make LGBTIQ people visible in sports. "You have to remember that parts of the community are categorically excluded from some disciplines in mainstream sports, for example intersex people or trans women," says Süess.

"It's also still not a given for many gay men in traditional team sports to be open about their partner and therefore their sexual orientation."

In addition to male and female categories, the EuroGames Bern 2023 offer a further category for non-binary participants. In addition, athletes may compete in the gender category with which they identify.

The EuroGames have been held regularly since 1992, each time in a different European city. The competitions focus on diversity and inclusion and are open to all people regardless of their ability level, especially heterosexuals. Zurich was the first and so far only Swiss city to hold the EuroGames in 2000.

The registration for the EuroGames Bern 2023 is already open: eurogames2023.ch