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Elite beach volleyball pro comes out as gay, with his eyes on the LA Olympics Olympic hopeful Leo Dillier, one of the world's best beach volleyball players, has come out as gay and says he wants to be the role model he once needed. Leo Dillier, pictured here during last year's Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event at Gstaad, hopes to be an out gay athlete competing at the Olympic Games in 2028. | Oskar Schuler / Shutterstock Swiss beach volleyball star Leo Dillier has publicly come out as gay, saying he wants to help bring about change in elite men’s sports. The 25-year-old pro, who is hoping to compete at the L.A. Olympics in 2028, explained in a video on Instagram that he’s looking to provide young LGBTQ people with the visible role model he lacked while growing up. His announcement came shortly after he competed alongside his playing partner, Luc Flückiger, at the European Beach Volleyball Championships in Poland, where the pair were eliminated just before the round of 16. In the caption on his post, Dillier wrote: “Today, I want to share something personal: I’m gay. Get off the sidelines and into the game Our weekly newsletter is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues. “For a long time, I felt like I didn’t quite fit into the world of elite sport. Coming to terms with who I am hasn’t always been easy, but today I can say that I’m proud of who I am, both on and off the court. “I hope that by sharing my story, I can be the role model I once needed myself.” Olympics hopeful Leo Dillier says he feels ‘confident’ coming out In his video, Dillier speaks candidly about the pressure that elite male athletes face to conform to traditional images of masculinity and toughness. “In elite sports, there’s a certain stereotype: an athlete has to be a certain way to perform,” he says. “That really bothered me because I didn’t quite fit in. I was a bit different.” He believes it’s still really hard for queer men to break the mold in sports. “Being gay is often equated with a weakness. There are very few athletes who talk about this topic,” he adds. Reflecting on his personal journey, Dillier says his teenage years were the most difficult. “When I think back to my time around 10 years ago — I was 15 and struggled immensely — I so wish I had had a role model in elite sports that I could identify with. That didn’t exist back then. I hope that I can inspire other people today.” Getting to this point in his life, when he has felt ready to go public about being gay, has also been challenging. “It’s an issue that has preoccupied me my whole life. In elite sports, it’s still difficult to come out. That’s why it was difficult for me too,” he shared. As to why he chose now, he added: “I feel confident, and I see the dynamics… I want to do something about it.” Leo Dillier’s playing partner and federation show their support Born in the small town of Mohlin in the north of Switzerland, Dillier has established himself as one of the standout talents in international beach volleyball. He first made a major splash domestically in 2022, when he won the Swiss national title alongside partner Adrian Heidrich. Since then, Dillier has made good progress at the elite level. Alongside his primary playing partner, Marco Krattiger, he is currently ranked 23rd in the world. The duo enjoyed a strong stretch of performances on the international circuit last season, claiming a ninth-place finish at last November’s World Championships in Adelaide, Australia. Before that, they also won a Challenge event in Poland on the Beach Pro Tour, having secured three additional top-three finishes at Challenge and Future tournaments. Leo Dillier (left) and Marco Krattiger (right) pose for a photo after their win during the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event at Gstaad in 2025. | Oskar Schuler / Shutterstock Dillier’s decision to come out is another encouraging sign of progress in Swiss men’s sports. In the last few years, tennis player Mika Brunold, professional basketball player Marco Lehmann, traditional Swiss wrestler Curdin Orlik, and volleyball player Dennis Del Valle have all spoken publicly about being gay. Brunold is among those to have commented on Dillier’s Instagram post, calling him a “star.” Two more athletes who have come out as gay in recent years — Australian basketball player AJ Ogilvy and Danish handball pro Villads Raahauge Jensen — also posted in support. Meanwhile, there were love-heart emojis in the comments from Dillier’s playing partner Krattiger and the Swiss national volleyball federation. Beach volleyball has a handful of LGBTQ role models, most notably on the women’s side of the sport in Brazil’s reigning Olympic champion Ana Patricia Ramos and Australian Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist Natalie Cook. 'Living as myself and doing the programs and routines to music that expresses who I am has helped my skating career,' says solo ice dancer Lucas Appel, who set a world record this year.