2010 Gay Games
Encyclopedia
The 2010 Gay Games were held at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 from July 31-August 7, 2010.

The Bidding Process

On 16 March 2005, the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) announced that Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 were the official candidate cities for Gay Games VIII in 2010. Cologne was elected in the FGG annual meeting in Chicago on 13 November 2005. The 2010 Games marked the first time the Games were held in Germany, and the second time in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 (Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 hosted in 1998).

Participating Nations

Athletes from 70 countries participated at the 2010 Gay Games. The most athletes came from Germany (2,955), the United States (2,215), the United Kingdom (841), the Netherlands (658) and France (524).

Opening ceremony

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle [] is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has been serving as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011. He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions...

 (who is openly gay) attended the opening ceremony on 31 July 2010.

The Official Anthem for the 2010 Gay Games is "Facing a Miracle" by Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne was born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962 before later adopting her current stage name. She is an American pop vocalist, songwriter, and dance artist. Overall, she has had eighteen individual hit songs reach the top ten in Billboard magazine...

 in which she performed live.

Events

The event featured 35 sports, accompanied by community and cultural events throughout Cologne and the surrounding area.
Event Location
Opening and closing ceremonies RheinEnergieStadion
RheinEnergieStadion
The RheinEnergieStadion is a football stadium in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was built on the site of the two previous Müngersdorfer stadiums. It is the home of the local Bundesliga team, 1. FC Köln. The stadium was one of the 12 hosting the 2006 FIFA World Cup...

Synchronized swimming German Sport University Cologne
German Sport University Cologne
German Sport University Cologne is a sport university in Cologne, Germany. It is the largest sports university in Europe with more than 5,000 students...

Softball Südstadion Sporting Complex
Cycling Köln-Longerich
Sailing Roermond
Roermond
Roermond is a city, a municipality, and a diocese in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.The city of Roermond is a historically important town, on the lower Roer at the east bank of the Meuse river. It received city rights in 1231...

, Netherlands


Other disciplines included Badminton, Basketball, Beach-Volleyball, Bodybuilding (Physique), Bowling, Bridge, Chess, Cycling, DanceSport, Diving, Field Hockey, Figure Skating, Golf, Handball, Ice Hockey, Inline Speed Skating, Martial Arts, Pool-Billiards, Powerlifting, Road Races incl. Marathon, Sailing, Soccer (Football), Softball, Sport Climbing,
Sport Shooting, Squash, Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track and Field Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo and Wrestling.

See also

  • Federation of Gay Games
    Federation of Gay Games
    -Concept and official purpose:According to the Federation of Gay Games :-Schism in LGBT sports communities over Gay Games VII:In 2001, the Federation of Gay Games awarded the seventh edition of the Gay Games to Montréal, Quebec, Canada for 2006, but the FGG removed its sanction in late 2003 after...

    , the sanctioning body of the Gay Games
  • Gay Games
    Gay Games
    The Gay Games is the world's largest sporting and cultural event organized by and specifically for LGBT athletes, artists, musicians, and others. It welcomes participants of every sexual orientation and every skill level...

  • LGBT rights in Germany
  • List of LGBT-related organizations

External links

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