Female Japanese footballer Shiho Shimoyamada has come out as gay and has encouraged other athletes to do the same before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The 24-year old plays for SV Meppen, a team in the second tier of the German Bundesliga. She came out in an interview for Pride House Tokyo, a project which is taking the opportunity of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to spread information related to LGBT people and other sexual minorities. “Once you share your feelings with the company you keep, sports will become even more fun,” said Shimoyamada