Outgames Launch in Vancouver

Nearly a thousand athletes and volunteers are slated to descend upon Vancouver, Canada, this week to compete in the second Outgames, a global LGBT sporting competition.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place Monday evening, kicking off a week of sporting activities that end with the city's annual pride celebration. The organizers of Outgames, a rival of the Gay Games, have reportedly taken cues from the 2010 Winter Olympics, also held in Vancouver, complete with a torch run and sporting events taking place all across the city, according to The Vancouver Sun.

Eight hundred athletes will compete in badminton, dance sport, golf, poker, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and long-distance running events. The "eco-challenge" is a multisport event that includes hiking, swimming, rappelling, Tyrolean rope traverse, biking, and map and compass navigation.