New Zealand short track speed skater Blake Skjellerup is the latest Olympic sportsman to come out as gay.

In an interview with Aussie gay mag DNA, the 24-year-old says he walked around Vancouver during this year’s Winter Olympics holding hands with his boyfriend. His Kiwi team-mates knew he was gay and had no problem with it, he adds.

Skjellerup says he is comfortable talking about his sexual orientation, but doesn’t want it to overshadow his sporting goals. “The first real issue was that I was there to compete – to focus on my skating – and to not have the focus on my sexuality,” he explains.

“We are not yet at the point in society where being gay sportsperson is not a big deal. If I was asked during any of my twenty-something interviews at the Olympics whether I had a boyfriend or a girlfriend – in the same sentence – I would have replied honestly, but I may have replied hesitantly.”

Skjellerup’s partner is also a competitive athlete, he tells the magazine. The article is available on DNA’s website to its paying members, and in the latest printed issue.

Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas and Australian swimmer Daniel Kowalski have also publically come out in recent weeks.