Openly gay Paralympian Már Gunnarsson embraces his multifaceted identity
Paralympic swimmer Már Gunnarsson, who recently competed in Paris, is also a musician, student and advocate for the rights of visually impaired people.
Being a Paralympian athlete is just one aspect of Már Gunnarsson’s life. The Icelandic swimmer is also a professional musician, a student and an advocate for the rights of visually impaired people — and says he could never give any of it up.
“I think to myself, ‘If I would just pick one thing, like just do swimming or just do music,’ I would potentially be better at it than I am,” Gunnarsson, who is blind, told NBC News. “But then again, that wouldn’t be who I am and I think I would just lose my mind.”
Gunnarsson, 24, competed at his second Paralympic Games this month in Paris, where he qualified for the 100-meter backstroke final and finished in seventh place. Though he hoped to rank higher, he accomplished his personal best time and broke the previous Icelandic record for the event. He was also one of a handful of out LGBTQ swimmers to ever compete at the Paralympics.
“I like breaking records,” Gunnarson said of representing the LGBTQ community in the pool. As for his performance in Paris, Gunnarson acknowledged “we always want more” but said he is ultimately happy with his result.
At the 2021 Tokyo Games, Gunnarsson mentioned being gay in a media interview that quickly went viral in his home country. He hadn’t planned it as a grand coming out and, although he got “some naughty and boring comments” after the interview, Gunnarsson said the support he received was overwhelming.
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