Team Australia sport climber Campbell Harrison didn't qualify for the finals of the boulder and lead competition at the currently ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics, but he's still a major winner in our eyes!
Harrison, who has faced homophobic bullying after kissing his boyfriend when he qualified for the Olympics in Paris of last year, proudly repeated the move again after being eliminated from his event at the summer games.
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Harrison unfortunately did not reach the final of his climbing event, the men's boulder and lead, finishing tied for 19th place with a score of 9.4. Only the top eight competitors from each semi-final round advanced.
Still, he won, being supported by his boyfriend Justin, kissing him after being eliminated.
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"Qualifying was so hard and getting through everything to be here was really tough," he said in a statement to the Olympics. "It was just not my day."
"It's pretty crazy. This morning, when I woke up, I was kind of emotional I thought, 'Oh, I gues I'm an Olympian now.' So that's kind of wild," Harrison continued. "At the end of the day, that was the big goal."
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Last November, Harrison qualified for the Olympics and made headlines for kissing his boyfriend in celebration. He made a post celebrating his accomplishment where he said, "to my queer community, may those who detest us forever fuck off," and ended by shouting out his boyfriend Justin, saying: "and the biggest thank you to @justinthedorito because you truly have been everything to me over the past 4 years. This is your victory as it is mine."
Instagram (@campbell_harrison547)
After facing homophobic hate, he spoke out on the issue of queer athletes.
"We often tell ourselves that society as a whole is becoming more progressive, or that things are 'getting better,' but the reality is… there's a reason why you see so few out, queer athletes in sport," he said. "It's homophobes and bigots that should feel unwelcome in sport. Not me. Not [my boyfriend] Justin. Not queer people just trying to live our lives without having to lie about and hide who we are."
