Thousands of athletes from over 65 countries attended the Gay Games, the world’s largest LGBT-friendly athletics event. Read some of the experiences with international participants.

Konstantin Yablotskiy was a figure skater, not an activist. Most of his friends did not even know he was gay. But in 2010 he watched international athletes competing openly at Cologne's Gay Games, unafraid of expressing their orientation. He decided to organize an LGBT athletics group in Russia. When he returned to this year's Games, Yablotskiy was leading a team of 33 athletes representing the 1,000-plus membership of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation. Read his story