A Finnish cross-country skier has come out.

Coming out of a winter sportswoman: “Now I am free”

A Finnish winter sportswoman announced her coming out with particularly impressive words.

June 24, 2025

From: det

Anni Lindroos hasn't yet made her big breakthrough on the World Cup stage. Nevertheless, her story recently caused a stir: The Finnish cross-country skier has come out. "I'm finally free. For the past five years, it was constantly on my mind and I couldn't really live my own life. Speaking about it publicly has made it much easier," the 23-year-old said in an interview with the Finnish online portal Evening newspaper.

At the beginning of the year, Lindroos revealed that she is gay in a TV mini-documentary. Due to Pride Month in June, her story is now once again in the spotlight. "It feels like I've led two different lives before. Of course, my inner circle knew about my sexual orientation," says Lindroos, who has competed in the World Cup five times so far.

Anni Lindroos has come out.

She has never hidden her sexual orientation, but she has kept it secret. "If someone had asked me if I had a girlfriend, I would have said yes. But I was often only asked about a boyfriend, and I said no. I didn't want to mention it voluntarily," says Lindroos. The Scandinavian explains that the conservative mindset in Finnish skiing circles hasn't exactly encouraged this essentially banal topic. "I hope I can be a role model for someone now, because something like this has never happened on our cross-country team before," says Lindroos.

She now wants to make headlines in the sporting world after a challenging past few years. After her first World Cup appearances in the 2022/23 season, the young Finn increasingly struggled with sleep problems, which caused a real block. Lindroos now hopes to be more mentally free, partly as a result of her coming out.