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Home > Sportshour > 'There are a lot of moments where this is still terrifying' – Danell Leyva


	Podcast:		Sportshour
	Episode:		'There are a lot of moments where this is still terrifying' – Danell Leyva
	Category:		Sports & Recreation
	Duration:		00:07:29
	Publish Date:		2020-10-31 11:54:00
	Description:		Former three-time Olympic gymnastics medallist - Danell Leyva - revealed his sexuality on National Coming Out Day in the United States earlier this month. The 29-year-old tells us his mum is the only member of his family he is out to and he feels he is “almost cheating” by talking to us, because most of his family can’t speak English. He recalls things family members have said, not knowing his sexuality, that have had an impact on him. He also tells us people have reached out to him on social media to tell him that his story has helped them. Leyva – who represented Team USA during his athletic career – has now moved into acting. He’s not keen to put a label on his sexuality and adds he would like to create a television show where a bisexual male is the main character as he feels historically bisexuals have not been taken seriously. One year on from South Africa’s men winning the Rugby World Cup we speak to Nolusindiso Booi, who is captain of the women’s team. She reflects on the men’s achievement and tells us about her involvement in a campaign to raise the profile of the women’s game. Booi wants girls to take up the sport in primary school and says it would be a dream to see a women’s professional league in the country. Booi is targeting playing in a third World Cup in 2021 and says the whole of South Africa will be screaming if they can emulate the men’s achievement in New Zealand. Staying with rugby union and Murray Kinsella from the 42.ie gives us his thoughts and explains the permutations ahead of Super Saturday in the men’s Six Nations. Photographer Kelly Gavin joins us to reflect on covering baseball’s World Series. The LA Dodgers ended a 32-year wait for the title and Gavin was there to capture the historic moment, which she describes as “nerve wracking” but also a dream come true. One of her images was used for the front cover of Sports Illustrated. Gavin also describes the moment she was hit on the skull by a ball travelling 96 miles an hour in 2016. She now wears a helmet when covering baseball. Natasha Jonas tells us all about a week that saw her and her brother provide free boxing lessons and food parcels to children in need over the October school holidays in England. Jonas – who boxed at an Olympic Games and is chasing a world title in the professional ranks – says she relied on things like free school meals when she was growing up in Liverpool. In Sporting Witness we tell the story of the Polish table-tennis player Natalia Partyka, who in Sydney 20 years ago became the youngest athlete in the history of the Paralympics when she competed at just 11 years of age. And – the football journalist and broadcaster Vaishali Bhardwaj joins us to look ahead to Manchester City’s game at Sheffield United in the Premier League. (Photo: Silver medalist Danell Leyva of the United States celebrates at the medal ceremony for the Horizontal Bar, Rio 2016 Olympic Games, in Brazil. Credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
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