February 6, 2012

More than 10 years after he came out, gold medal Olympian Mark Tewksbury remains one of Canada's only openly gay athletes. In this clip, Mark explains why he thinks the world of sport is more conservative than the rest of society, and describes how coming out actually helped him in competition.

"In my last year of swimming I had to make 7 years improvement in about 10 months ... and there's a moment when I knew that this demon that I had inside, was really holding me back from that external goal. And so I told one of my coaches - it was a woman - and the relief that I felt .. and the improvement that I made - I actually made that 7 years in less than 10 months. And so I really think there's a direct impact between being authentic ... and being able to get the most out of yourself."

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