A Spanish water polo player who is headed to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics this summer came out gay in an exclusive interview with Spanish glossy Shangay.

Victor Gutierrez, 25, told the magazine that he's been out to family and friends and had been thinking about coming out publicly for “quite some time.”

“I'm living my sexuality in such a positive way that I felt a responsibility to share it with others,” Gutierrez said.

He added that he came out to highlight increasing attacks on the LGBT community in Madrid.

“There have been more than seventy homophobic attacks in Madrid so far this year, it is a reality that we must live with. And there are almost no athletes who say they are gay. But, according to my experience, people have changed. As an athlete, everything I have lived is absolutely positive,” he said.

This summer's Rio Olympic Games begin August 5.