World’s second strongest man comes out as gay
By Sam Rigby
Professional strongman Rob Kearney has come out as gay.
The 25-year-old strength coach – who finished second in the World’s Strongest Man competition last year – posted a romantic status about his boyfriend on Facebook last month.
He used the hashtag ‘ManCrushMonday’ to publicly thank his boyfriend, Joey Aleixo, for his love and support in recent months. Take a look at the status below:
Meanwhile, he told OutSports that he was aware coming out early in his career would cause problems for him in the world of strength athletics.
“I thought it was important to be honest. People need to know that one of the top strength athletes on the planet is also gay. But I didn’t want it to affect my ability to compete. And that possibility definitely crossed my mind before I made that post,” he said.
By coming out, Kearney is the first openly gay professional to compete in international strongman competitions.
Meanwhile, football manager Arsène Wenger recently said that society might not be advanced enough to accept openly gay football players in the UK – read more here.
Back in July, Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe came out as gay in an interview with Sir Michael Parkinson – find out more here.