No sports commentators can be said to have done their jobs properly unless they manage to come up with a list of best-ever sporting moments. Consistent with our commitment to embrace sport in all its forms, here are five unlikely gay moments in sport that don’t spring to mind as readily as Martina in shorts, Greg in diving togs or Ian in a footy change room.

In no particular order…

Tonya Harding and ‘that’ incident
perhaps too many little girls in America dream of Olympic ice-skating success. Asthma-ridden and from an unstable family, Tonya Harding seemed unlikely to live the fairytale. She saw her dream fade amidst cigarette clouds at the US trials for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. As the ugly sister in this demented drama, Tonya organized a good old knee-capping for her rival, Nancy Kerrigan. Ultimately, princess Nancy would skate into everyone’s hearts, winning silver and a Disney contract. Tonya finished 8th and got into porn and pro-wrestling.

Footballers sans clothes
Next comes the guns and puppies fest of ‘men for all seasons’ footy calendars. Surely the Stade Français rugby team was aware of the worldwide loin-stirring upon the release of their homoerotic calendar, Dieux de Stade (‘Gods of the Stadium’). The Making Of… DVD is a key part of many a gay man’s collection. Not that the artful display of French flesh could steal the hearts of AFL fans. AFL calendar star Ben Cousins set the gaggles gossiping more than the croissant chewers ever could when he was taken into custody in WA last year. Yes, the charges were dropped, but gay men weren’t alone in focusing more on his ‘Such Is Life’ tattoo than on his alleged indiscretions.

Dr Renee Richards
A 6’ 2” Jewish transsexual ophthalmologist from New York on the women’s tennis tour? Dr Renee Richards (born Richard Raskind) was bound to cause a stir. It takes balls for a transgender player to take on the conservative tennis establishment and win (during the 70s to boot!). Her struggle didn’t lead to world domination on the women’s tour (she maintained it was about human rights), but it did get her a permanent spot in Martina’s box at Wimbledon.

We’re living in a relationship, but…
While there’s a growing list of out and proud sportswomen who openly share their Sapphic love with the world, they have plenty of tentative sisters. Such is the phenomenon of sportswomen living in lesbian relationships who don’t identify as lesbian. Say what you want, but Hockeyroos star Alyson Annan shacking up with the captain of the Dutch hockey team did more to blur the sexual identity boundaries of Australian sportsfans than Kinsey ever did. Even our Dawn Fraser and Karrie Webb have admitted to having ‘lived’ with women.

Sydney Olympics Closing Ceremony
The creative director, Ignatius Jones, was given the challenge to close proceedings. And what did the brother of playschool’s Monica Trapaga come up with? Vanessa Amorosi singing ‘Absolutely Everybody’, Nikki Webster when she was annoying (not misguided), Savage Garden before the ‘break-up’, a tribute to priscilla, and Elle Mcpherson on a giant runway. Seriously, what more could you want? Oh, that’s right: Kylie Minogue atop a thong (not in one) singing ‘Dancing Queen’. Tommy Emmanuel also performed. Well, you can’t have everything.

IMAGE: Hockeyroo Alyson Annan reacts after her team win the 1998 World Cup Hockey semi final. Photo: AP Photo/Srdjan Petrovic

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