Out Gay Team GB Athlete Carl Hester Takes Gold At London 2012

Posted by Chris Kilby on Tue 07 Aug 2012 at 21:18

Team GB’s only out male athlete, Carl Hester, has won Olympic gold in the Equestrian Team Dressage competition.

Carl Hester, from the tiny Channel Island of Sark, helped Britain to their 20^th gold medal and the first ever in the team dressage competition, alongside team mates Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin.

After failing to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after appearing in three previous Games, Carl’s hopes of achieving a medal and his future equestrian career looked in doubt. However, Carl would not be kept down and when a horse called Uthophia came along and the pair was set to achieve great things.

Carl has openly acknowledged in the media that he is gay, and was previously in a relationship with fellow equestrian dressage competitor Spencer Wilson.

He has won 51 national domestic dressage titles during his career and in 2011, won team gold and individual silver at the European Championships. He will be competing for a further medal in the individual competition on Thursday 9^th August.