JURE MAKOVEC / AFP
Ski jumper Andrzej Stekala, here in 2021, came out on January 1, 2024 after the death of his partner.
SPORT – “Today I don’t want to run away anymore. » Polish ski jumper Andrzej Stekala came out on Wednesday January 1 on his Instagram account. A way to start the year 2025 by turning a huge page, only a few weeks after the death of your companion.
“I wondered for a long time if I would find the strength to write these words. For years I lived in the shadow of fear, in disguise, afraid that the person I truly am would destroy me.”begins Andrzej Stekala in this message accompanied by a photo slideshow of him and his companion.
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He continues: “What I am going to write now is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. For years I lived in secrecy, afraid of destroying what I worked so hard to achieve. (…) For years, I hid it from the world – from you, from the media, and sometimes even from myself. » And reveals: “I'm gay. »
-“We loved each other in silence”
The 29-year-old ski jumper then recounts having met his partner in 2016. “We loved each other in silence, hiding our love from the world to protect what was most important to us,” he explains, before revealing that the man who shared his life had died last November.
“I can't describe the pain I felt. The world we built together has fallen apart. Every day without him is a struggle, but also a reminder of how much I have loved infinitely and how deeply I have been loved.”he continues. And to conclude: “I’m starting a new chapter. I no longer want to hide who I am. »
Andrzej Stekala won two bronze medals in ski jumping with Poland, during the 2020 World Cup and during the 2021 World Championships. His coming out is all the stronger as LGBT+ rights are almost non-existent in Poland, conservative country and where the influence of the Catholic Church is very strong.
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