GayCities Europe editor Paul Brummitt is at the GayGames in Cologne, where he’s competing in the triathlon and blogging and photographing all week.
In track & field, on the last day of competition, the relays sometimes took a backseat to the lycra-clad eye candy.
These Gay Games have been very good, one of the best yet, but there have been complaints about the size of the venues, which barely have room for participants to watch, let alone room for Cologne locals and visitors and locals who want to take in the action.
The opening ceremony had the opposite problem. The choice of a large stadium for the opening ceremony was risky, as tickets were expensive and simply didn’t sell. Many of the big parties were very expensive, too, and athletes already shelling out thousands to get here could not necessarily afford more than a few.
Yet everyone had a great time regardless of these quibbles. The closing ceremony today will hand the baton to Cleveland for GayGames 2014. The friendly rivalry with the Outgames is here too, and Antwerp, the host city for Outgames 2013, held a reception at the Belgian Consulate. There, I bumped into one of the organizers of the Asia Pacific Outgames in Wellington, New Zealand, which will be held in March 2011, and he reminded me to spread the word that it’s going to be fantastic. “If they keep adding any more sports I’ll scream,” he said.
Clearly the future of gay sports is bright, as these pics, below, would appear to indicate.
