“We always enter the Olympics as underdogs”: Soccer star Quinn on how Canada’s women’s team plans to defend their gold medal

If there were any doubt that women’s soccer is having a moment, skeptics need only look at the existence of a Christine Sinclair Barbie to see that the hype is real. Next on Mattel’s list should be Quinn, the mononymous midfielder who helped propel Canada’s national women’s team to its first-ever gold medal win at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. And that wasn’t Quinn’s only historic accomplishment that day: two weeks after becoming the first openly nonbinary athlete to compete in the games, they became the first openly trans athlete to win an Olympic medal. Now, fresh off a swift and unexpected loss at the 2023 World Cup, Quinn and the team are rallying in hopes of recapturing their Olympic glory in Paris. Here, they tell us how the team is faring after Sinclair’s retirement, what their biggest challenge will be in the 2024 games and why they’re hopeful about the future for trans athletes.

You come from a sporty family: your parents were both college athletes, and your sisters also played soccer. Are you competitive with one another? Definitely. Growing up, I would play one-on-one basketball with my mom, and she would beat me every time. Then I’d throw a temper tantrum.

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So I’m assuming board game nights were off the table? Some of the family claims they just don’t like board games, but I think it’s really because the tensions get a little too high.

When did you first get into soccer? I started when I was five years old, and by then I was already itching to play. I’d watched my sisters’ games on the weekends and wanted to join them so badly. North Toronto Soccer, near Avenue and Eglinton, was my first club.

At Tokyo 2021, you became the first openly trans athlete to compete at the Olympics and then the first to win a medal. What was that like? Winning a gold medal and achieving my childhood dream was pretty surreal. And being the first transgender athlete to compete brought on a mix of emotions. It was encouraging to receive support from people around the world, but I thought a lot about the fact that there were people before me whose gender identities kept them from competing at the Olympic level.

The 2021 games had a handful of trans athletes, but since then many international sports bodies have further restricted trans participation—some, like track and field, have banned trans athletes entirely. How has that affected your attitude toward the sports world? It can be pretty heavy at times, especially since I’m living in the US at the moment while playing for the Seattle Reign FC. It feels like there’s a new piece of anti-trans legislation every week. It’s upsetting to see the misinformation that’s being spread about trans athletes. For example, legislators will say that cis women don’t want trans women in their leagues, but when the NCAA recently banned trans women from competing, over 400 professional women athletes signed a letter saying that the decision was discriminatory.

You’ve said before that the opposite is true: banning trans women negatively impacts women’s leagues. Whenever you have policies that are policing women’s bodies, it’s going to be detrimental to all women. Trans women will obviously be affected, but cisgender women and their bodies will be under scrutiny too. I also hate when these decisions are framed as a way to “protect women’s sports.” There are so many actual problems in women’s sports: lack of funding, lack of attention, lack of infrastructure. These are all really pertinent issues that could use our attention, but unfortunately people are putting their energy toward bans that are ultimately going to marginalize all women.

We’ve also seen paranoia around gender in sports harm kids: in Kelowna last summer, an adult publicly questioned a nine-year-old girl’s gender at her elementary school track-and-field meet. Do you have a sense of how that kind of thing affects young trans athletes? It’s so important for people growing up to be able to participate in sports. It’s a place where we can hang out with our friends, have a sense of camaraderie, learn about our bodies and gain confidence. So sending the message that some people don’t belong in sports is incredibly harmful to trans youth. People need to reflect on why they’ve participated in sports and the joys they’ve found there—it’s about making sure every human gets to have those experiences.

Have you received any blowback since you came out as nonbinary in 2020? I would be lying if I didn’t say that I receive messages every single week on social media that are frankly upsetting and jarring. I’m really strict about my social media when I’m at the Olympics for that reason—I literally won’t use it at all. I’ll type out things and have my sister post them for me. Luckily, the national team has been supportive from the get-go. The coaching staff were really proactive in educating themselves on how to make the team as inclusive as possible, which made it easy for the rest of the team to follow suit.

What’s your outlook on the future of trans people’s access to sports? Unfortunately, the kind of legislation that is being put in place could take many years to change. But I really do feel hopeful, because trans people have been around since the dawn of humanity. We will always be here; that can’t be stopped. I like to look at all the ways younger generations are able to connect with other members of the LGBTQ community—there’s a power there that can’t be extinguished. There will be pushback and hurdles, but I think there will also be perseverance and, eventually, change, even if it isn’t as linear or straightforward as we hoped it would be.

Canada is getting a professional women’s soccer league, Project 8, next year. Would you ever come home to play? It would be a dream come true to play professionally in Canada. It’s so exciting that Canadian players will have a chance to play in front of home crowds year-round.

Let’s talk about the women’s national team. Last year, at the 2023 World Cup, Canada was a favourite but exited early after a devastating series of losses in the first round. What happened there? Ha, good question. It was a hard tournament for us. National teams around the world are improving, and it’s becoming much more competitive. It’s exciting, but we’re also seeing some big names being knocked out at early stages, including Germany and even Brazil. For us, I think we just underperformed. It was pretty shocking for those of us who have experience doing well at the World Cup and the Olympics.

How do you handle disappointments like that? Crying, eating ice cream, kicking stuff? I’m lucky because my partner’s family has a big acreage. I took a week or so to step away and retreat to the farm. After that, I wanted to get right back to playing with my professional team in Seattle and seeing how I could continue to grow in the lead-up to the 2024 Olympics.

In Paris, you’ll be without former captain and long-time scoring star Christine Sinclair, who just retired. Even though you’re the reigning champs, it feels like an underdog moment. I think we always come into tournaments as underdogs. We see ourselves as a very hard-working team that has a lot to prove on the international stage, and I think that mindset has been beneficial. We know we need to perform every single game to get the results that we want. I also think it’s a really exciting time for us to be without some of the veterans like Sinclair who we’ve leaned on heavily in the past. That generation of players really set the stage, but it’s time for the rest of us to take hold of this team. We’re ready for it.

What do you see as the team’s biggest challenge at these Olympics? With these games, the challenge is always being able to play top-tier soccer with such short turnaround time between games. Even though we won gold last time, the last two games were really hard. By the end of it, you’re running on fumes. So it’s going to be important to use every single person on our roster, because that’s what’s going to be needed. Every person needs to come in ready to perform. Luckily, we have a core group of players that have a lot of experience at the Olympics, so we know what to expect.

Not to jinx it, but how do you feel about your odds? I mean, if you look at how it’s played out historically, I would say they’re pretty good. But it’s a hard competition, and every single one of the teams is going to be strong. Anything can happen, but if we can put in consistent performances, I think we’ll be in a good spot.

This will be your third Olympics. Do they lose any of their lustre when you’re a repeat visitor? Not at all. I’ve wanted to be at the Olympics since I was in Grade 1. It’s such a unique experience seeing all of the best athletes in the world in one place—even in the dining hall, all lining up to get waffles. It’s just so bizarre and exciting. I remember seeing Sky Brown, the British skateboarder, in Tokyo. She was like 13 at the time, just going through the Olympic Village on her board with her medals, a bouquet of flowers and an ice cream. Or you’ll show up at a party and Usain Bolt is just standing there. It’s super fun each time I go to the games. I don’t imagine that will ever change.

I hear you travel with a stuffed moose. Yes, my mom gave it to me. It’s from the winter Olympics in Vancouver. My friends have always tried to name it, but the only thing that has stuck is Mr. Moose. It’s pretty basic, but I think it’s official now. I take that moose and my weighted blanket with me everywhere I go. They’re comforting things to have on the road.

Your birthday is August 11, which is the day of the closing ceremonies. How are you going to celebrate? Hopefully with a gold medal.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.