A Gay Viewer's Guide to the Beijing Olympics

Sport with the most hidden roughness
In a water polo match, much of the action takes place underwater, where players grab, gouge and kick each other. Think the Eagle in New York on any Saturday night. Play gets so rough that some players wear two sets of swim trunks since the first one is often yanked off. We’re just saying…

Event not to miss: The U.S. opens play against host China on NBC Aug. 10. The men’s gold medal match will be on NBC the afternoon of Aug. 24.

Who’s in, who’s out.
There were 11 out athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics; this year, it’s only five (so far) and three are American, but the are all women.

Australian diver Matthew Mitcham leads the pack with his six-pack. He’s also the only out male we know of, which is hugely depressing. Mitcham will be competing in both the 3m springboard and 10m platform events and has a legitimate shot at a medal, having finished fifth earlier this year in Beijing at the World Cup.

Matthew Mitcham

Event not to miss: Men’s individual diving preliminaries start Aug. 18 on the 3m springboard. It’s 50-50 whether Mitcham will make it out of prelims or not.

Eight is enough
Eight is also the number of gold medals American swimmer Michael Phelps is shooting for during these games, which would be a record. Sports Illustrated, in its Olympics preview issue, had stunning shots of the 6-4, 195-pound Phelps, with close-ups of his amazing back, abs and other body parts. Buy the issue just for these shots.

Michael Phelps

Event not to miss: We will find out just how golden Michael Phelps is on Aug. 15. His final race, the men’s 4X100m medley relay, will be swum between 10pm and midnight ET.

Best inadvertent name change
U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay is a favorite to win the men’s 100 meters (though a leg injury may hamper his chances). When Gay set a record recently, the news website of the anti-gay American Family Association, which uses a search-and-replace filter, referred to him as “Tyson Homosexual.” He was running so fast that one reference called him a “flaming Homosexual.”

Tyson Gay

Event not to miss: The men’s 100m final will be on NBC Aug. 16, starring “Homosexual” and two Jamaicans: Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt.