2010 Gay Games

The 2010 Gay Games (Gay Games VIII) were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and musicians. It was held from July 31 to August 7, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.^[1]

VIII Gay Games
Cologne 2010

Host city	Cologne
Country	Germany
Motto	Be part of it!
Nations	70
Athletes	9,500
Events	35 sports
Opening	July 31, 2010 (2010-07-31)
Closing	August 7, 2010 (2010-08-07)
Main venue	RheinEnergieStadion
← Gay Games VII Gay Games IX →

Bidding process

On 16 March 2005, the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) announced that Cologne, Johannesburg, and Paris 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.^[2] The 2010 Games marked the first time the Games were held in Germany, and the second time in Europe (Amsterdam hosted in 1998). In the 2010 Gay Games was Sir Elton John was announced as the ambassador of the games on November 7.^[3]

Participating nations

Athletes from 70 countries participated at the 2010 Gay Games.^[4] The most athletes came from Germany (2,955), followed by the United States (2,215), the United Kingdom (841), the Netherlands (658) and France (524).

Angola Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Canada Chile China Colombia Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic El Salvador Estonia

Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Kenya

Latvia Liberia Lithuania Luxembourg Mexico Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Norway Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Puerto Rico Russian Federation Singapore Slovakia

Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Sweden  Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay

Opening ceremony

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (who was openly gay) attended the opening ceremony on 31 July 2010.^[5]

The Official Anthem for the 2010 Gay Games was "Facing a Miracle" by Taylor Dayne in which she performed live.

Also Sir Elton John was announced as an ambassador of the games on November 7.^[6]

Events

RheinEnergieStadion at Müngersdorfer Sportpark

The event featured 35 sports, accompanied by community and cultural events throughout Cologne and the surrounding area.

Event	Location
Opening and closing ceremonies	RheinEnergieStadion
Synchronized swimming	German Sport University Cologne
Softball	Südstadion Sporting Complex
Cycling	Köln-Longerich
Sailing	Roermond, Netherlands

The 35 disciplines consisted of 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.^[7]

Soccer (football) had the largest participation with more than 1,000 male and female competitors.^[8]

See also

• LGBTQ portal
• Sports portal

• Federation of Gay Games, the sanctioning body of the Gay Games
• Gay Games
• LGBT rights in Germany
• List of LGBT-related organizations