Quinn will step onto the soccer pitch Friday in Japan and make history as the first transgender, non-binary athlete to win an Olympic medal.
The Canadian women’s soccer team will play Sweden for gold, with silver going to the defeated side. The Canadians have won bronze at the previous two Olympic games.
It’s an achievement friends, teammates and advocates call a profound leap forward for inclusivity and reminder of the power of sport to champion equality.
“It just shows that trans people belong in sports, and they belong in sports at the highest level,” Harrison Browne, a friend of Quinn’s said in an interview.
“To have somebody break down that barrier … a young kid playing a sport can say ‘I want to be an Olympic soccer player because I saw Quinn do it.”‘
Browne, the first openly transgender player in professional hockey, came out in 2016 and says he will be watching Quinn on TV.
Browne has been friends with and corresponded with Quinn for years.
Quinn came out as transgender almost a year ago, and uses they/them pronouns. In an Instagram post last September, they wrote: “I want to be visible to queer folks who don’t see people like them on their feed. I know it saved my life years ago.”
The 25-year-old midfielder from Toronto joins others making headlines for inclusivity at the Tokyo games. Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand is the first openly transgender Olympic weightlifter and Alana Smith, a non-binary skateboarder has represented the United States.
Quinn won a bronze medal with the women’s team in the 2016 Rio Olympic games but had not come out as transgender at that time.
Olympic hardware will be another accolade in an impressive career on the pitch. They played college soccer at Duke and worked for the campus chapter of Athlete Ally, a national organization promoting inclusivity in sport.
Quinn is the highest-drafted Canadian in the National Women’s Soccer League and plays for the OL Reign.
Reign defender Lauren Barnes said Quinn has been a force at midfield and on the backline while bringing a “a goofy, competitiveness” to the squad.
“We are so proud of what Quinn has done on the pitch and can’t wait to watch them compete for a medal on the biggest stage,” said Barnes.
“More importantly, we couldn’t be more proud of who they are off the pitch. They are a pioneer and will be an idol (and) role model to so many youth athletes.
“That legacy will live on far longer than any game of football.”
Many U.S. states are looking to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports, citing unfair competition and advantages.
Advocate and researcher Kristopher Wells said the pushback in the U.S. and elsewhere reflects the duality of sports.
He said athletic competition can be a beacon of equality and meritocracy but also a battleground for social and cultural opponents.
“The visibility that Quinn brings to this Olympic platform really emphasizes the very best of what sports is all about,” said Wells, an associate professor and research chair for public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth at MacEwan University in Edmonton.
“Sports has often been considered the great equalizer in society, but it hasn’t quite lived up to that promise,” he added.
Wells noted many LGBTQ youth still drop out of organized team sports early because of intolerance.
“Sports has often been called one of the last bastions of tolerated homophobia in our society, so the more we see LGBTQ athletes not only participating but standing on the Olympic podium receiving medals, it’s quite a significant moment.”
Browne said it’s not just the spotlight moments surrounding Quinn, but the less obvious — but nonetheless critical changes — such as Olympic announcers using they/them pronouns.
Browne, who identifies as male, says he was ready to quit hockey before he came out.
“It was too hard to hear the wrong pronouns, hear the wrong name all the time,” he said.
“Just being able to be yourself and not having to hide behind a mask takes such a weight off your shoulders and you feel like you can just simply focus on the sport.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
