Amanda Chidester
In 2019, softball player Amanda “Chiddy” Chidester (l) was cut from Team USA. Though many would have thrown in the towel, Chidester took a different approach. “In that moment, I realized I needed to take it to the next level,” she tells GO. “I needed to own all aspects of my life. Be who I truly was and live it along with living out what I wanted to do, every day.” Chidester credits “discipline, routine, and consistency” for her spot on the 2020 Olympic team—and subsequent silver medal. She also made a major personal change, deciding to live out and proud. “I am who I am, and I will love who I want to love,” she says. “I was tired of ‘being careful.’ I wanted to be me fully.” The third of five siblings and surrounded by brothers, Chidester had an active childhood, playing softball, volleyball, and basketball before focusing on the former once she got to high school. She hopes to make an impact on other softball players through her forthcoming app, RISR— which launched on May 16—which offers instructions and guidance for fastpitch players. She also takes her visibility as an out queer athlete seriously. “It was really awesome to see all of the attention we got as a couple when we played each other in the Olympics,” she says, referring to her fiancée Anissa Urtez (r), who played for Team Mexico in the Tokyo Games. “I hope we were able to impact many lives because I know anytime I saw visibility of openly gay athletes, it gave me more and more courage to be me.” –LE
