Joan Guetschow
Encyclopedia
Joan Guetschow is an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 biathlete http://data.biathlonworld.com/data/archives.aspx?IbuId=BTUSA20609196601. She competed at the Olympic Games in 1992
Biathlon at the 1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympic Games Biathlon resultsThe Biathlon competitions were held at Les Saisies, about 40 km from host city Albertville.-Medal table:-10 km sprint:February 12, 1992-20 km:February 20, 1992...

 in Albertville
Albertville
Albertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:...

 and 1994
Biathlon at the 1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics Biathlon results.The sport of biathlon combines the skills of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.- 10 km :February 23, 1994- 20 km :February 20, 1994One missed target equals a one minute penalty.- 4 x 7.5 km relay :...

 in Lillehammer
Lillehammer
is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

, representing the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She also competed for her country in the World Championships in Borovetz in 1993. She has also been talented in other sports. In triathlon she participated the first time year 1986 in Finland Championships Games and became second, right after Marjo Matikainen, Olympic gold medalist in cross country skiing.

Guetschow is lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 in her personal life, and was one of the earlier female athletes to "come out" as being such. She stated that she had been up front with her team mates about her sexuality, letting it be known to them that she was lesbian. She stated in a recent interview about lesbian athletes that her team mates were extremely supportive. She has since "came out" publicly. She further stated that "there were members of management that didn't go out of their way to make me their poster biathlete", but that overall she was treated fairly. She also was quoted as saying that her team, at the time, spent a lot of 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...

, and that Europeans seemed to be less invasive, and couldn't care less about her sexuality. http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbiansinsports/a/LesbianOlmypian.htm

External links

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