Beach volleyball pro Alex Ukkelberg comes out as gay: 'I'm thankful that I'm gay'

Professional beach volleyball player Alex Ukkelberg has come out as gay, speaking publicly about his sexuality for the first time in an Instagram Reel posted on 5 November.

Ukkelberg has been out to his family and friends for more than a decade, but until now he had kept that part of his life away from social media.

In the video he explained that he had held back out of fear of saying "the wrong thing", before deciding that he wanted to be honest about his experience and how he feels. "And honestly, I'm thankful that I'm gay," he said. "It's made me a better, more empathetic person."

Growing up, Ukkelberg played basketball, football and baseball and ran track, and he has described a competitive sporting environment in which he believed there was "no way" he could be gay. He was candid about how long it took him to accept his sexuality, saying: "Saying the words 'I'm gay' out loud for the first time was really hard for me."

After several years of struggling with his mental health, he reached a simple conclusion. He was not willing to give up either sport or living authentically, so, in his own words, "I was just gonna have to figure out how to be both."

The reason he gave for speaking out now is perhaps the most telling part of his message. Ukkelberg admitted that he had never really wanted to be vocal about his sexuality, particularly online, but said that being vocal was exactly what his younger self had needed. For any young athlete wondering whether there is room for them in the sport they love, that is a message worth hearing.

Support has also come from within the game. Fellow beach volleyball professional Charlie Siragusa, a friend who has played alongside Ukkelberg, congratulated him in comments reported by Outsports, describing him as "a bit of an enigma, but in the best way" and adding that "he always provides me with new ways of looking at the world". The pair are both members of GayVP, a group chat for gay athletes.

Ukkelberg joins a growing number of volleyball players who have chosen to share their stories this autumn. Last month we reported on the engagement of gay beach volleyball stars Kyle Friend and Tim Brewster, while in the indoor game Rui Takahashi's decision to come out inspired Reon Arao to do the same.

Each new voice makes the path a little easier for the players who follow, and Ukkelberg's openness about the years it took him to reach this point may well be what stays with the young athletes who watch his video.