Sprinter Ramsey Angela’s new Calvin Klein photoshoot makes us want to swipe right with Olympic speed
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Sprinter Ramsey Angela is preparing for the World Indoor Championships this weekend in Glasgow. But our main question is: will he be wearing his favorite Calvins?
The Dutch Olympian is slated to compete in the men’s 4X400 relay, the same event in which he won silver at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
It’s apparent he can’t wait to get back out there with his teammates!
How about we take this to the next level?
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In preparation for the championships, Angela has been training hard, sharing videos and photos of his workouts on social media. But he’s also been building his brand away from the track.
Just last week, the heartthrob posted pictures from his most recent shoot with Calvin Klein. We would definitely swipe right to see more!
In fact, one could say we would swipe at Olympic speed…
Those shots, combined with a celebratory shot of him standing in front of a rainbow leg, all but confirmed his sexual orientation.
“The socials are quite important for my career. I’m convinced it has a big effect on things like sponsor deals or commercial interests,” he told ESPN. “I share a part of my private life and this is part of that. That’s how I see it.”
In that same interview, Angela said he originally harbored doubts about going public with his relationship, but decided being open was the best way to live.
“To be honest, I did wonder whether it was normal. I had this brief period of doubt whether this was right,” he said. “But I soon thought, ‘There it is, I can’t change it, I’ll go for it.’ I guess now that I have a boyfriend, my first one, it has gone public. The other relationships I had, or whatever, I did post about them [on social media]. Now I post about my first boyfriend, but not like it’s a surprise. It kind of happened naturally, it’s part of being Ramsey Angela.”
These days, the Ramsey Angela experience includes plenty of medals and commercial deals. He’s won four international medals outside of the Olympics, including gold at the 2021 World Relays and European Indoor Championships.
Last year, Angela took home bronze at the European Indoor Championships.
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With Paris 2024 in his sights, he’s hoping for a strong showing this weekend. As he puts it, “Every grind is a step closer to greatness.”
And what a grind it is! This man is putting in the work.
Though Angela is quite visible, he says he wasn’t aware of the broader LGBTQ+ community until publications started reporting on his sexuality in the lead-up to the 2020 Games. He only realized the importance of his role when he saw his Instagram follower count ballooning.
“Maybe it’s weird, but I’ve only known about that [LGBTQ+] community since last summer,” he said. “I knew it existed, but I never paid any attention. At least now I know what the letters mean.”
Angela says the turning point came when Attitude wrote a blurb about him before he arrived at the Olympic Village.
“I woke up one morning and found I had a few thousand new followers, thanks to a post by Attitude. So I was like, huh? I love having more followers, but who are they? That’s when I discovered,” he said.
Today, Angela boasts more than 18,400 followers on Instagram. With a slick eye for fashion, he knows how to light up the camera.
But back to the undies. While at home in South Africa this winter, Angela starred in a shoot for Puma.
Not to be forgotten, he also recorded an ad for Calvin Klein.
“I want to be on a cover of something,” he wrote.
It appears to be only a matter of time…
In the aforementioned ESPN interview, Angela says he’s never worried about “fitting in.” He knows that if he presents himself honestly, success will follow.
“Life is short, be yourself. If you are not yourself, that’s going to hurt,” he said. “I’m personally not very interested in other people’s opinions. I understand if you want to feel good in a certain environment. But I’m sure that if you are yourself, and you present yourself as the person you want to be, people will accept that as normal. But if you’re not yourself, it will become a [negative] thing.”
It’s been all positive for Angela as of late. He was a guest at last fall’s European Athletics Golden Tracks, one of the sport’s most high-profile annual events.
“Me and my bro experienced an unexpected but very special moment of recognition, for our Silver Medal performance at the Olympics 2021,” he wrote. “Again, an honour and BIG motivation into this Olympic season. Cheers to that!🥂”
Indeed! It’s heartening to see Angela’s popularity around the sport.
If recent history is any indication, the World Indoor Track Championships should be another showcase on his way to even more Olympic glory.
