name: Haley Washington
Country: America
Sports: volleyball
Olympic experienceTokyo 2021
Social media: Instagram / ×
Who is Haley Washington?
Haley Washington was one of several volleyball players to come out at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, and now she’s back at the Paris Olympics and looking to repeat in 2021.
In late 2020, Washington posted on X that she was bisexual, which was interpreted by some as her public “coming out.”
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I’m not rolling up my pants because I’m tall, I’m rolling up my pants because I’m bisexual!!! I just want to be appreciated 😔
— Haley Washington (@Hales__Yeah) November 16, 2020
But Washington didn’t think so. The next day, she tweeted that her post wasn’t a “coming out” and that she considered herself to have already “come out.”
Wait, I’m screaming. Did yesterday’s tweet count as a coming out? I’ve always thought my bisexual identity was super obvious.
— Haley Washington (@Hales__Yeah) November 17, 2020
This is a growing trend among many LGBTQ people, including many LGBTQ female athletes, who are simply living their lives and sharing them on social media without making any big public “coming out.”
She played collegiately at Penn State, where she was a three-time first-team All-American as a middle blocker and won an NCAA national title with the Nittany Lions in 2014.
Washington currently plays professional volleyball in Italy and was recognized as the “best middle blocker” at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Haley Washington at the Paris Summer Olympics
In the final tournament of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, the U.S. women’s volleyball team did not lose a single match, winning all three matches 3-0 to win the gold medal, the first Olympic gold medal for the U.S. women’s volleyball team.
Heading into Paris, the U.S. is ranked No. 5 in the world women’s volleyball rankings, and they have a lot of work to do.
The U.S. has won medals in the past four Olympic Games and will need to be at full strength to continue that streak.
Washington has been a member of the U.S. national team since 2018.
