Breakout Australian gymnast Heath Thorpe has spent the last several weeks fighting his shocking omission from the country’s World Championship Gymnastics roster.
But with amounting legal fees, he needs help.
Thorpe, one of the few out gay male gymnasts competing internationally, found about his snub last month. Australia’s gymnastics body failed to select him for the marquee event, despite his recent triumphs on the mat. This spring, Thorpe won the Australian All-Around Championships, one of the country’s highest honors in his sport.
He was also part of the team that earned Australia a place in the World Championships, winning the competition’s floor event for the second year in a row.
Belgium will host the championships this October.
“I am absolutely heartbroken to share that I have not been selected to the Australian team for the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships,” Thorpe posted at the time. “Despite my many results and improvements this year alone, including my recent Australian All-Around title, I will not be one of the five Aussie gymnasts afforded an opportunity to compete in the biggest Olympic qualifier come October.”
Later, Thorpe hinted he would appeal the decision. “At this time, I am not allowed to speak to the selection process and what has occurred, but am hopeful that the subsequent findings are made public in due course,” he wrote.
On Thursday, Thorpe provided an update on his situation. He said he appealed his non-selection to the National Sports Tribunal, which partially upheld his case. When Australia Gymnastics didn’t reverse its decision, he appealed once again, but lacked the financial means to move forward
“I did not have the financial means to continue the case,” he wrote. “I was also emotionally exhausted and isolated. This process had been going on for weeks.”
Now $19,000 in debt, Thorpe has set up a GoFundMe page for support.
“Whilst I am incredibly disappointed by the outcome of this appeal, I am proud of myself for standing my ground and asserting my values and self-belief,” he posted.
Thorpe has raised $2,579 at press time.
From a personal standpoint, Thorpe’s snub obviously hurts. The World Championships are the biggest Olympic qualifier. Not participating in the competition hinders his chances at representing Australia at Paris 2024.
“It is obviously a huge blow to my chances to qualify for the Paris Olympics,” Thorpe told Gymnastics Now. “The 2023 World Championships are the biggest Olympic qualifier, so to not be afforded such an opportunity is really devastating and shattering. The all-around qualification method would have been my best chance given my recent upwards trajectory.”
But Thorpe’s battle is about more than personal success. It’s about ensuring there’s LGBTQ+ representation at the highest level of gymnastics. The 22-year-old publicly came out as gay when he was 18, and has often spoken about the dearth of out athletes in his sport.
“When I was younger, there were no queer gymnasts competing on the international level,” he said in an interview about his advocacy efforts. “So when I was coming to terms with my identity, I now realize how significant it could’ve been if there were one or even two people at the top level being themselves.”
Though there were at least 186 out athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Games, there was only one gymnast: Caitlin Rooskrantz of South Africa.
Outside of Thorpe, Brazilian artistic gymnast Arthur Nory is the only other widely known active out male athlete in the sport. (Three-time Chilean Olympian Tomás González recently came out as gay, too.)
Thorpe, who incorporates leaps and other acrobatics into his jaw-dropping routines, attributes the lack of LGBTQ+ representation to the heteronormative environment around the sport.
“Artistry in the eyes of men’s gymnastics equals femininity and for some reason we see that as a bad thing,” he told Inside Gymnastics last year.
Even though Thorpe has been left off the world championships roster, his Olympic hopes aren’t lost. He could qualify after the world cups next year, and could compete at next spring’s Oceania Championships as well.
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Hermes in DC
I’m sorry for his disappointment. But I wonder if there’s a real injustice here and a serious blow to the cause of LGBTQIA+ visibility or inclusion, or just the personal disappointment of someone who didn’t get picked for the team. I don’t know enough about how teams get selected to know. But on its face, there are A LOT of other much more important and compelling Go Fund Me causes than this world class athlete’s legal fees.
Anyway . . . athletic glory is usually best won in the arena.
JromeGervais09
An obvious response to your fascist babble is you must be a republican.
barryaksarben
This is BS and we all know it. They continually move the bar when we are a part of the issue. they say we aren’t being denied based on anything but performance but then when shit like this happens it shows they are lying. Enough with trolls saying it isn’t like it appears IT IS EXACTLY HOW IT APPEARS.
nm4047
would he like to nominate the person in the team that he should be replacing.
ralphb
I’m not all that knowledgeable about the Olympics, but could he compete in the games for another country? Surely, there must be at least one that would accept him?
The real Bruce
Sadly, politics has entered into the Olympics too much. “Artistry and fluidity” are a great part of gymnastics routines and if the Australian committee is too narrow to see that, then maybe they shouldn’t be on it. Most of them probably couldn’t cut it on the mat themselves anyway. Perhaps too many Fosters. So many out and gay Australians should unite and protest Heath’s being omitted. Money talks and withdrawing any financial support by the gay community to the Australian committee should be a thought. By the way, Ralphb’s comment might have some merit. New Zealand is close by. Do they have a world class gymnast to represent them?