A proud father is over the moon that his son just qualified to represent the USA at the Olympics in Tokyo next month.
Jerry Windle, who lives in California, is gay. When he found it difficult to adopt in the US in the 1990s, he looked abroad instead and found a child in desperate need of a home in Cambodia.
His son, Jordan Windle, 22, lost both his parents when he was one year old. Aged 18 months, and suffering from malnutrition, scabies, and intestinal parasites, he was adopted by Jerry from an orphanage in Phnom Penh.
Jerry nursed him back to health and set him up on the path to success.
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Jordan now attends the University of Texas in Austin. He is a senior, majoring in Culture of Sport. Jerry works for a heart rhythm monitoring company, iRhythm, based in San Francisco.
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At the US Olympic Diving Trials last week, at his third attempt to qualify for the games, Jordan earned himself a place in the men’s diving team. He will compete in the 10m men’s event.
“Jordan began diving when he was seven years old,” Jerry tells Queerty.
“I enrolled him in a summer camp at the Fort Lauderdale Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame. The coach of the diving team, Tim O’Brien, who is the son of Greg Louganis’ Olympic Coach (Dr. Ron O’Brien), saw him and told me that I need to get him into a diving program. He said if I input him into a diving program he would be a national champion one day and likely an Olympian.
“He saw something in Jordan when he was seven that reminded him of Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Louganis. Jordan has since been known as little Louganis!”
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In fact, Louganis has mentored Jordan on four different occasions. Jordan recently told NBC that mentoring was valuable, and he’d be remembering Greg’s advice when he goes to Tokyo.
“Just like Greg Louganis taught me since the beginning to always have fun and treat it like a sport’s supposed to be – go out there and be a competitor – and that’s what I intend to do.”
Jerry says that seeing Jordan achieve his dream of qualifying for the Olympics was “a beautiful experience.”
“He has worked tirelessly for 15 years chasing his dream; he has given up high school dances, Prom, football games, homecoming, etc., to achieve his goal. I have never pushed Jordan in his sport. This has been his journey, and I am so proud to have been able to give him the opportunity, and to be there to support him. I never wanted Jordan to feel pressure from me as many athletes do. I’ve always supported his decisions as it relates to his journey chasing the Olympic Dream.”
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Jerry shared his good news on a Facebook group for gay fathers. He wants people to know that gay people perform just as good a job at parenting as anyone else. Only this week, the US Supreme Court gave its backing to a Catholic adoption agency in Philadelphia that doesn’t want to be forced to place children with LGBTQ parents.
“Although there have been some people who didn’t think a gay person could raise a well-balanced, mentally healthy child or should be allowed to raise children; our story is definitive proof that that assumption is purely wrong and is a fallacy,” Jerry says.
“Jordan is a humble, kind, generous, and nurturing human being who knows and believes all humans are created equal and every human being deserves to be happy, to love and be loved unconditionally – PERIOD.
“For the most part, the diving community has been incredibly supportive of our family,” he continues. “In fact, I’ve had many of Jordan’s friends tell him that he had the best dad in the world – and I suppose I’m one of the ‘cool dads’!”
For Jordan, his dad’s support means the world.
“It’s everything,” the diver recently told NBC, “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, his love and support. He’s always there for me, calling me. I’d give him anything, and I’m sure he’d do the same.”
Watch a clip of Jordan in action below.
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Mister P
I wish him all the luck in the world. I’ll be watching him for sure.
Jake123
What a lovely story.
quantum
All power to this lovely kid and his dad, but anyone who thinks Olympic athletes are well-balanced and mentally healthy is themselves crazy. 🙂
Jack
I wouldn’t make such broad generalizations about Olympic athletes. Especially when it comes to mental health. Clearly you are not an expert on the topic, and that comment is irritatingly false. All love to Jordy and his dad., though. I’m sure if he needs a diagnosis, you’re not on the call list.
jcool
thanks for being so negative. why would you even feel the need to post that response? bitter.
tjack47
As a mentally ill gay man, I would like to point out that his father didn’t pressure him. That unconditional support is a nurturing environment for, yes, even someone with a mental illness thrive. I hope I’m able to watch him compete.
I do understand, particularly with the horrendous sexual abuse of female gymnasts, that some of these children are learning to cope with that heinous experience. Of course, there are the tiger parents hovering over their child’s every move living vicariously through their kids. I do believe it’s important to acknowledge these problems. I do not see that here with the abbreviated information I read. His father’s relationship with him brought tears to my eyes, happy tears.
Inspector 57
Completely agree. Thanks for sharing.
Kangol2
This is such a beautiful story about a wonderful, loving, supportive gay parent who nurtured his child in ways so many hetero parents fail to. I wish the young athlete success in Tokyo, but he has already succeeded in so many ways, as his father. I also praise Greg Louganis for serving as a mentor for this young man.
I also want to thank Queerty for quietly but actively increasingly the numbers of articles about LGBTQ people of color, including Asian Americans. It’s refreshing to see a wider spectrum of LGBTQ out there reflected on here.
Mack
I wish him the best and hopes he wins each event he’s in. Congratulations to dad for raising a wonderful son. Unfortunately if he doesn’t win, the right wing bigots will blame his “gay dad”.
barryaksarben
My niece is a world class athlete and is very healthy esp mentally. Her parents never pushed and it was all her choice and she is a wonderfully well rounded person so to call into question all Olympic athletes mental helaht is insane
hotttt123
After a few tears….I love these stories!!!!! I will be cheering for this gorgeous young man and thank you dad for being just as wonderful!!
Valleylaker
The world needs to see these stories of family love, support and joy to counteract all the toxic hatred that the Right takes pleasure in spreading. I was so-so about the Olympics this time around but now I have a reasoon to watch, and I know who I will be cheering for, both father and son.
linedrive
Beautiful story. I wish them both all the best. I’ll definitely be cheering for Jordan in Tokyo!
Tombear
I hope Jordan wins the gold!
Terrycloth
I’m glad it was always the son Jordans desire to practice and he wasn’t pressured by dad..these days kids are overbooked with home work , karate , baseball or football , swimming , boxing , etc. All they really want is YOU…
amanwithanedge
so very cool!
Michael1500
My hat comes off for Jordan, for his accomplishments and for being a fellow Texas Longhorn! I’m proud of him. I take my hat off (again) especially for Jerry, who didn’t give up in trying to adopt when he hit a stone wall in the U.S., and went the extra mile (and red tape) of seeking a child as far away as Cambodia. This is a wonderful success story.