Olympic love story that lit up ‘Rainbow Games’
The sight of United States footballer Kristie Mewis consoling Sam Kerr after the Australian had finished empty-handed in the women’s football bronzemedal match at the Tokyo Olympics was the ultimate act of sportsmanship, according to Team USA’S Twitter account. It was cited as one of eight “moments of sportsmanship and kindness that defined the Tokyo Games”, right up there with the blokes who shared the gold medal in the high jump.
But as Mewis buried her face into Kerr’s shoulder, and the pair embraced, the cameras began whirring. This was more than sportsmanship. Sharing an intimate moment on the pitch was Mewis and Kerr’s empowering way of taking their relationship public. The response? Well, they pretty much broke the internet.
Youtubers have been working overtime ever since to ensure the world is kept up to date with this blossoming football romance. Videos of the Olympic love story – meticulously charting every Instagram comment and exchange between the two accounts for the past six months – have attracted hundreds of thousands of views. The relationship has even been celebrated with its own hashtag: “Kerristie” – a play on “Kerrby”, the nickname Chelsea fans bestowed on Kerr and England striker Fran Kirby in honour of the pair’s formidable strike partnership in the Women’s Super League last season.
Two truths are simultaneously apparent here. One, it is ridiculous that the internet is going crazy about two peoples’ private lives. Two, it is a mark of progress to see the growing celebrity regard that some of the world’s most marketable female footballers now hold. With nearly a million Instagram followers between them, Kerr, who became Australia’s all-time leading goalscorer during the Olympics with 48, and Mewis are included in that group. It is also reflective of the increasing number of eyeballs on the women’s game – and when the WSL kicks off next month with its new SKY-BBC broadcast deal, it will raise players’ profiles even further.
But there is another layer to this story. Of course, it is nothing new for footballers’ relationships to play out in the public eye. But the timing of “Kerristie” was significant. You might wonder if the pair saw a meaningful window of opportunity in Japan, a country criticised by Human Rights Watch for failing to introduce legislation to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination. The Tokyo
Olympics has already been hailed as the “Rainbow Games” for having three times the number of openly LGBTQ athletes than at Rio 2016.
And the pair’s unexpected moment in the spotlight was just one of many from LGBTQ athletes playing out against the backdrop of the Olympics. From Tom Daley speaking of his pride to be a gay man and an Olympic champion, before giving a statesmanlike response to the homophobic attack from a Russian state television presenter, to Polish rower Katarzyna Zillmann, who used her platform to thank her girlfriend and condemn the latest wave of homophobia in her country after winning silver in the quadruple sculls.
It also drew parallels with the photo of Sweden’s Magda Eriksson and her girlfriend, Denmark’s Pernille Harder – now Kerr’s Chelsea team-mates – sharing a passionate kiss after playing against each other in the last 16 of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
The women’s game can be proud of the fact that it embraces inclusivity in a way that men’s football cannot begin to fathom. That reality alone, though, should not force players to feel they have to be open about their sexuality.
As Casey Stoney put it on coming out in 2014, citing her inspiration as Daley’s own announcement the previous year: “I’ve never hidden it within football circles because it is accepted … but to the outside world, I’ve never spoken about my sexuality. I’ve always cared too much [about] what other people think. I was frightened of the stereotypes, frightened of being judged, frightened of what other people might say, especially the abuse you can get through social media.”
Which makes the whole “Kerristie” affair all the more powerful. Alongside Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird, there is room for many more of these power couples in women’s sport. And we are to celebrate all of them.
The pair’s unexpected moment in the spotlight was just one of many from LGBTQ athletes