Top athlete and pride ambassador

Utrecht-based gymnast Jeffrey Wammes was the first Dutch top athlete to come out of the closet as a gay man in 2010, during his sporting career. Between 2005 and 2010 he won several World Cup competitions and became Dutch all-around champion four times. In various interviews and as an ambassador of Amsterdam Pride 2019, he advocated a safe sports climate where LGBTQA+ athletes do not have to hide their feelings.

Successes and injuries

Jeffrey Wammes spent his childhood and school years in Utrecht, where he was born on April 24, 1987. From an early age he was fascinated by gymnastics with a preference for exercises on the horizontal bar. His talent, like that of his sister Gabriëlla, who was two years older, was quickly discovered.

As an international top gymnast, Wammes made his breakthrough in 2005 when he won gold medals on the floor and vault at a World Cup competition (a series of tournaments for the world’s top athletes). In the same year, he and Epke Zonderland were the first Dutch men to qualify for the all-around final during the World Championships in Melbourne. During the European Championships he won the bronze medal on vault.

Wammes’ career seemed to be over after a double ankle fracture in 2006, but he managed to come back after a long rehabilitation. From 2007 onwards he again won several medals in World Cup competitions. He became Dutch all-around champion in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010. In 2010 he was also selected as sportsman of the year in his new hometown of Amsterdam. In 2012, a knee injury prevented her from participating in the Olympic Games. He did participate in the next one in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Coming Out in L’Homo

In the spring of 2011, the then 23-year-old Wammes appeared with several other Dutch male sports idols, all heterosexual, on the cover of the glossy L’Homo. Wammes stated in the magazine that he is attracted to men. That coming out was unique in the Netherlands for a still active top athlete and led to a lot of positive attention in talk shows, the mainstream and the gay media.

Eight years later, when he acted as ambassador of Amsterdam Pride 2019, he was disappointed that his act did not get much follow up:

There are few athletes who come out of the closet and that is quite a shame. I think (…) they are afraid of bullying and discrimination. When I came out I only received positive reactions. My sport is not a team event and that makes it different from football, for example. If you have a few roosters in the locker room after the football match, then I understand that it is difficult. If a footballer says he is gay, the world is too small. Actually that’s very strange. It’s really time for a well-known and successful footballer, for example a player who scores a lot of goals, to come out of the closet. I really think that would be good. The more you perform, the easier such a coming out becomes.

Another disappointment concerned the attitude of the gymnastics association:

I received no response from the association. There was deafening silence. I would have really appreciated a listening ear then. But none of that (…) I had to do it alone. I managed, but that doesn’t apply to everyone.

In recent years, gymnastics and other sports associations have made some efforts to implement a policy aimed at diversity and inclusivity. At the same time, it emerged that female gymnasts have had to deal with inappropriate behaviour and (sexual) abuse for years. NOS Sport asked Jeffrey Wammes in 2020 what happened to the men. Jeffrey now (March 2024):

I said then that I had not experienced such situations. I didn’t dare say that in front of the camera at the time, but enough has happened to the men too.

Fun to flirt

In various interviews, Wammes said that the discovery of his homosexual feelings came late (after he was 16) but did not lead to any major problems for himself or for his parents and sister. At the age of 18, when he lived in Rotterdam, he went to a gay bar for the first time:

One night I was out with my best friend and we decided to go to the Gay Palace. I was quite nervous, we stood on the corner of the bar for at least half an hour. It also said ‘GAY PALACE’ in big bright letters above the door, really annoying. It wasn’t like you could just go in inconspicuously. In the end we did go in. I immediately liked it and felt at home there. The Gay Palace was really hip and happening at that time, there was a nice atmosphere. It was busy and there was a nice mix of people (…) I immediately dared to flirt. I still go to both straight and gay bars. When I don’t go to gay bars, I notice that I have a lot in common with straight men. They are often a bit tougher and jealousy does not often come into play. This sometimes happens in gay bars. But I do like that it’s easier to flirt in gay bars.

From celebrity to B&B owner

Jeffrey Wammes likes new challenges and experiences and seems to like to be the centre of attention. Even during his sports career, he accepted invitations to participate in popular  TV programs. Immediately after ending his gymnastics career, Wammes was part of the company that performed Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère performance twice a day in Las Vegas from September 2016 to May 2018.

Wammes followed (uncompleted) training at the Johan Cruijff University A’dam and at the Defense Top Sports Selection. Defense dismissed him in 2009, a week after fellow gymnast Yuri van Gelder was sent away for cocaine use. According to the Ministry of Defense, Wammes is ‘not suitable for military service’. The true reason has never become completely clear.

Nowadays Jeffrey Wammes lives in Amsterdam where he runs his own B&B in a houseboat.

Maurice van Lieshout