Olympian Brockhoff 'amused' by gay hate tweets

Olympic snowboard cross semi-finalist Belle Brockhoff says she has faced a series of gay hate tweets during her time in Sochi.

The 21-year-old openly gay athlete has previously condemned in public Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws.

But speaking after her luckless run in the women's event at Extreme Park, in which she finished eighth, Brockhoff refrained from speaking out against the laws or Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying she would speak about the issue after she had enjoyed the rest of the Olympics.

Brockhoff did reveal, however, that she had been trolled on social media for her views — and was rather more amused than insulted by the attacks.

"I've had hate tweets, she said.

"But it's good getting different sides of the story, and trying to open your eyes a lot more before you say anything.

"I've been called an aggressive something dyke or something, but I thought it was pretty funny.

This one guy said, 'I'm right behind Putin, you should break a leg and get locked in the slammer' ... The hate is funny."

Brockhoff and Torah Bright both had crashes in their snowboard cross events at Sochi to finish well short of a medal.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Author: Erin Tennant, Approving editor: Natasha Lee