Olympic Basketball Star Elena Delle Donne Comes Out, Announces Engagement To Girlfriend

"I decided I'm not at all going to hide anything."

From: NewNowNext

 As if playing in the Olympics wasn’t exciting enough, WNBA champ Elena Delle Donne has come out as gay in a Vogue magazine interview, announcing her engagement to girlfriend Amanda Clifton.

 “It was just one of those articles where they came into my home, spent a couple days with me, and [fiancee] Amanda is a huge part of my life,” says Delle Donne, an MVP with the Chicago Sky.

“So to leave her out wouldn’t have made any sense. It’s not a coming out article or anything. I’ve been with her for a very long time now, and people who are close to me know that, and that’s that.”

 Delle Donne, now in Rio to play ball for Team USA, says for the most part her private life will remain private.

“I don’t plan on having our relationship out in the public and all this media on it… Obviously there’s excitement right now because people see it for the first time.”

The 26-year-old forward also appeared in ESPN’s Body Issue this year.

Go grab a copy of the @ESPN #BodyIssue and check out the gallery here: espn.com/Body BIG THANK YOU to @carlos_serrao and your team for making this shoot such a comfortable and amazing experience for me! #leafblower

A photo posted by Elena Delle Donne (@de11edonne) on Jul 6, 2016 at 8:08am PDT

While Clifton appeared in Delle Donne’s photos and posts on social media, they didn’t address their relationship out of respect for Clifton’s desire for privacy.

“I decided I’m not at all going to hide anything,” Delle Donne said.

According to ABC News, Delle Donne is now the third out member of the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team, along with Brittney Griner and Seimone Augustus.

The U.S. women’s team plays Spain for the Gold Medal today..