Denis Finnegan, National Track Star, Comes Out As Gay

Denis Finnegan, one of the most decorated athletes not just in Ireland but in track and field, has come out as gay in a new interview.

Finnegan, who is Irish, competed in the triple jump, an event also called the "hop, step, and jump," where competitors run down a track and then jump into a sand pit, being measured for distance.

In the interview, Finnegan said that his process of coming out was "kind of slow." Before he made any personal declaration, the Australia-based jumper said he wanted to first come out to all of his family.

"It's all been a totally good response," he told the Five Rings To Rule Them All podcast of his conversations with his family. Those were the disclosures that he had been worried about most.

"It was never the sport side of things that would be the problem, the athletics for me were always a welcoming place."

"Half the issues were stuff that I built up in my head to what could have happened," Finnegan said. "We're so used to, as a gay person, hiding parts of yourself that you just build up stories about what's actually going on as to what is."

Now, he says he's ready to share his story with the world to help people in a similar situation.

"I do want to get my story out there," he said. "I feel that the more people who can come out and tell their story, for younger people it will hopefully give them more confidence in what they're doing. There are still people who are scared or unsure of what's happening, so I hope just telling my story might help one person notice there's more out there."