Matt Lister, the former canoeing champ of Team Great Britain member, stripped to show off in a revealing new photoshoot for Attitude magazine. Lister talks about coming out in 2012 at age 20, being harrier than other guys growing up, and homophobia in sports.

“I didn’t want to come out while I was in school because I was already bullied for being a fat, spotty kid and I was bigger than everyone and I was hairy. I may as well have just worn a target. I didn’t want to add another thing to that pile, so I just waited till the last year of school, when I was in the sixth form.

I would never shame someone for not coming out because it’s a personal choice and it’s a difficult thing to go through, but I feel as if it’s a necessity for the LGBT community because you’re in the public eye. People are watching you, even people who aren’t involved in sport that maybe want to get into it, but they don’t try because they think it doesn’t fit them.”

Check out more in the latest issue of Attitude. Here’s a behind-the-scenes at the shoot. Watch.

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