Champion Student Runner Nico Young Came Out

Image via Instagram @nico__young__

A track and field athlete at Northern Arizona University has come out as gay.

College athlete Nico Young recently came out through a post on Instagram.

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“Hi, I’m Nico, and I’m gay,” Young wrote.

The record-breaking runner was the 2019-20 National Gatorade Player of the Year in cross-country and 2019-20 track and field National Gatorade player of the Year. Plus, he was also a California state champion in high school. Young is the indoor 3k & 2k record holder, the U20 American 5k outdoor record holder, and the U20 American 5k indoor record holder.

Related: Soloman Bates On Coming Out: “I’m Opening Doors For Gay Athletes Like Me”

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After coming out, the rising college junior then shared that he had a hard time accepting his sexual orientation.

“This may come as a shock to some of you, but this is something I have always known and have finally decided to share with the world,” he wrote. “I like guys, not girls. Anyone who tells you that being gay is a choice is wrong. I am living proof that it is not a choice, it is something I have always known and been aware of, but have kept silent out of fear of rejection. I have struggled to accept myself, but I am becoming more proud and happy with who I am. I have realized that the only reason I never liked this part of who I am was because of what society has told me, not because of how I actually feel.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch0AebEJ6sG/

Young then shared that he plans to act as a representative to other struggling queer youths.

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“This is a quality of myself as well as so many other people that should be accepted and celebrated just the same as a straight person’s identity is,” the college student added. “I want and hope to be a representative and advocate for others like me. I want anyone who is struggling with who they are to know that you are never alone, and that the people who truly matter to you will always be there to love and support you. If people choose to walk out of your life because of who you are, then they never deserved to be in your life in the first place.”

He then reiterated, “My name is Nico Young and I’m proud to be gay!”

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