COVER

Hail the conquering gay heroes
D.C. athletes return from Chicago Gay Games with a trove of medals

GREG MARZULLO
Friday, July 28, 2006

TEAM D.C., COMPRISED of local sportsmen and women, returned from Chicago triumphant with more than 40 medals after Gay Games VII concluded on July 22, following a week of competition among varying levels of gay athletes.

“We did extremely well as a team,” says Brent Minor, president of Team D.C. and a board member of the Federation of Gay Games, the organizing group behind the event. “I feel good about Team D.C.’s performance.”

Among the most successful stories of the Gay Games was Velo,  Team D.C.’s cycling group. Among the three athletes on the team, Chuck Harney, Wayne Lerch and Andrea Reister, the group won more medals than any other cycling team at the games, says Harney.

“I wish it was still going on,” says Harney, 44.

Each of the four road races in which Velo members competed was broken up by age and whether or not someone was licensed for racing by the United States Cycling Federation.

“I’m licensed,” Harney says. “Wayne and Andrea are not.”

As a result of licensure, the length of a race changes with licensed racers having to complete longer courses.

“Thursday [July 20] was the road race — the big race,” says Harney. “It’s a nine-mile course. The number of times you do it depends on license and age.”

Reister took gold in her group for the road race, as did Harney.

“I was ... racing with the pros,” says Harney. “It was probably one of the better races I’ve ever had.”

Lerch unfortunately got a flat tire toward the end of the course, although he seemed slated to win a silver before the tire went out.

PERFORMING UNDER ADVERSE circumstances is not unheard of in the mainstream world of competitive sports, so it should come as no surprise that gay athletes push themselves to the limit.

Scott Garvey, winner of three bronze medals and one silver for track and field events, competed despite an injury to his Achilles tendon in May, which caused a decrease in a rigorous training regimen.

“I’ve been training on and off since May,” says Garvey, 24, an employee of the Washington Blade.

Two of the bronze medals and the silver were in relay races of varying lengths.

“Me and my team ... would get together on Saturday mornings at a high school track in Greenbelt,” Garvey says. Training included sprints, endurance drills and relay-race hand-offs.

He and his teammates raced in different events throughout the week, causing him to stay in Chicago for the duration of the Gay Games.

“My legs were screaming and still are,” he says with a laugh.

NOT ALL OF the athletes come home physically exhausted. Kathy Brennan, D.C.’s first gold medalist in women’s bodybuilding, says she feels surprisingly refreshed. 

“I think it’s the high from winning and getting more attention than I could ever have imagined,” says Brennan, 39, who won her medal in the novice grouping of women ages 21 to 39. “When people find out you won a gold medal, they just go crazy.”

Even though she was showered with praise while attending other Gay Games events, the first-time bodybuilding competitor says the entire experience was humbling.

“I don’t think anybody put in one ounce less [work] than anybody else,” she says. Brennan’s own training began in October of 2005 and continued up through the competition. Three months before the Gay Games, she would leave her job at Fannie Mae at 5 p.m., head to the gym and not get home until 10 or 11 p.m.

SEVERAL GAY ATHLETES spoke of the thrill of being in an environment with thousands of fellow athletes.

“It was so great to be there,” Brennan says. “I didn’t have to worry about anyone thinking that I might be a lesbian. That was a huge bonus for me.”

She adds that she was able to bring her partner of five years, Darlene Latta, and not have to worry about people asking her questions regarding her supportive female fan. She was uncomfortable with competing in a straight competition where there is a focus on not appearing to be a lesbian.

“So many of the straight women who are bodybuilders go out of their way to be straight,” Brennan says.

While the camaraderie of competition is an important part of the Gay Games, enjoying the newly formed friendships at the week’s parties is also a rush for the athletes.

“The opening ceremony was amazing,” Garvey says. Like all the other athletes, he and his teammates were given color-coded glow sticks and ran out into Soldier Field, the home of the Chicago Bears football team, to an appointed spot.

“They turned off the lights and there was a huge rainbow flag,” says Garvey. “The adrenaline was amazing.”

Others felt that the closing ceremonies, headlined by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, were more impressive.

“Cyndi Lauper was superb,” Minor says, adding that the four-act opening ceremony was not his style. “It was Wagnerian. After [attending] five games, you’re going to need to resurrect Judy [Garland] to make me teary-eyed.”

Entertainment aside, the event was still meaningful for Minor.

“[The Gay Games] are such a positive experience for people,” Minor says. “There is not an agenda or anything. Let’s celebrate ourselves through sport and culture. A lot of times we have to fight for something ... but sometimes you’ve got to go out there and celebrate.”

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