Rayan Dutra on day two of the 37th FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships at Utilita Arena in 2023 2023 in Birmingham, England. (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Bisexual trampoline gymnast Rayan Dutra has described confirmation that he will be heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer as the “the best birthday present”.
Dutra, who took up trampolining at the age of 11, will represent Brazil in France – his first Olympics – after securing enough points at an event in Germany.
Having recently turned 22, the star shares his routines on TikTok, where he has more than 700,000 followers and has accrued millions of likes.
He won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, last year.
Posting about qualifying for the Olympics on Instagram, he wrote: “No words to describe the feeling of qualifying my country for the biggest sporting event in the world.
“Anyone who understands trampoline gymnastics knows the meaning of qualifying for an Olympics. After a few sore ‘almosts’ and [Brazil’s] first participation as a host country at the 2016 Olympics, we are taking trampoline gymnastics to Paris.”
He is the first Brazilian man to secure a spot in trampolining at the Olympics Games because the gymnasts in 2016 qualified as part of the host nation’s team.
Comments under his post showered him with congratulations.
Speaking to Outsports, he said: “Ever since I found this sport, all I wanted to do was jump on a trampoline. Now it’s my job, my life.
“As a bisexual man, I don’t think I’ve ever hidden myself. When you’re a little more feminine than the other boys, the bullying starts in school. It wasn’t that much for me, but it was present in my life,” he added.
In announcing Dutra’s qualification, the Brazilian Confederation of Gymnastics, said: “Rayan has already received the best birthday present he could imagine. Regarded as a great talent, the young man from Belo Horizonte is on the rise when looking at results.”
Ahead of the games, which begin in July, Olympic chiefs have revealed there will be enough condoms available – 300,000 – in the Olympic Village for each athlete to use two each for every day of the event.