Aussie Gymnast Comes Out As HIV+

Openly gay Australian gymnast and former Olympian Ji Wallace has come out as HIV-positive.

Wallace, a trampolinist who won a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, said he was inspired to make the public admission about his diagnosis after seeing an interview given by US diver Greg Louganis about his battle with HIV and being a gay Olympian. “I have been contemplating writing this for a while,” Wallace said. “I caught a CNN Piers Morgan interview with Greg Louganis here in London. It made me think and think and I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote.” Louganis won four gold and a silver medal at the Olympics between 1976 and 1988 before coming out as both gay and HIV-positive in a 1995 autobiography. “I felt inspired to write. I too am an Olympic medal winner living with HIV,” Wallace said.

Wallace says he was also inspired by Anderson Cooper's recent coming out. (Tipped by JMG reader PaulNPerth)