5 Burning Questions With Conor McDermott-Mostowy

Conor is a member of the inaugural Team OutAF, a group of six out LGBTQ+ athletes competing in the Milan Winter Olympics and Paralympics. We caught up with him and asked him five questions ahead of the Winter Games.

Competing in his first Winter Olympics in Speed Skating, Conor McDermott-Mostowy has had to overcome heartbreak to get here. After coming out publicly in 2021, and on his way to the 2022 Olympics, Conor became ill and missed a significant portion of his training and competition schedule, leaving him off Team USA that year.His return to the highest levels of speed skating have made him one to watch in Milan.

Conor McDermott-Mostowy

Speed Skating

Team OutAF: Other than competing, what are you most looking forward to in Milan?

Conor McDermott-Mostowy: I'm looking forward to connecting with and cheering on athletes in other sports. We so rarely get to interact with other Olympic athletes or watch other winter sports, so it will be a lot of fun to finally be with other people who are as passionate about their sports as I am about mine. I also look forward to exploring Milan and having some great coffee and wine once my events are over.

Team OutAF: Is there anyone you hope you get to meet?

Conor: A friend gave me a couple disposable cameras that she will turn into a scrap book after the games for me, so I thought it would be fun to get a picture with all the other queer athletes, at least from the U.S. I also know llona Maher will be at the Games as an influencer, and I'd love to meet her. She's so funny and I admire her

advocacy.

Team OutAF: What's your favorite sports memory?

Conor: Probably skating in the COVID bubble in 2020-2021 in Heerenveen, Netherlands. It was a very unusual World Cup season with only two World Cups as opposed to six and then World Championships all within a month, but we were just so grateful to compete at all. There was only a small group of us who went to Netherlands for the bubble, which made it even more fun in a way. We all became so close and it will probably always be one of my fondest skating experiences, long after retirement.

Team OutAF: What does it mean to you to be out and proud? 

Conor: I don't really see any other way of being. The alternative – being closeted – would probably have made me a worse skater due to the significant mental toll it would take. I also hope that I can be an example for others and show that you can be out and successful in sports. There is a huge disparity in queer representation in sports compared to the general population. Either there is a significant population that is queer but not comfortable being out or queer people abandoned sports before they could ever get to the professional level. Regardless, the solution is the same: Show people that you can be out, respected, and reach the highest level in your sport.

Team OutAF: Who's your favorite LGBTQ+ athlete and why?

Conor: This is going to sound funny, but I don't really follow sports that closely. My favorite queer athletes are ones who do a lot of advocacy off the field of play. I admire athletes like Megan Rapinoe, Billy Jean King, and Gus Kenworthy for their athletic achievements but also for the example they set outside of sport. They all use their platforms to fight for causes they believe in, which doesn't always make everyone understand that out athletes are more than just entertainment. We are also people.

You can follow Conor McDermott-Mostowy on Instagram and Facebook.