Timothy LeDuc has qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing with his figure skating partner. This will make him the first non-binary person to compete in the Winter Games.
The Winter Olympics in Beijing are the sporting career highlight for Timothy LeDuc: together with figure skating partner Ashley Cain-Gribble, LeDuc, 31 years old, competes in pair skating for the USA. The duo has won the US championship for the second time this year. But for LeDuc it’s not just about sporting success. The start at the Olympic Games should also be a sign to bring queer people more to the fore and to encourage them. Because LeDuc has identified itself as non-binary since last year.
This means that Timothy LeDuc does not belong to either of the two classic genders and uses the plural pronouns “they/them” in English. If LeDuc hits the ice with Cain-Gribble, it would be a historic moment: it would be the first time an openly non-binary person has competed in the Winter Olympics. An important signal to the world and the queer community, as LeDuc hopes.
Winter Games 2022: Timothy LeDuc wants to set an example
“As an openly non-binary person, I hope it helps other queer people in figure skating who are afraid of being themselves or that that’s why potential partners don’t want to skate with them,” LeDuc told Sportschau “. Le Duc himself experienced this pressure during his sporting career. “By talking about it, we can get more people to understand that there’s nothing wrong with LGBT people, that we deserve to be celebrated.”
At the age of 18, LeDuc came out as gay. The conservative Christian family were initially hostile to his sexual orientation and tried to convince LeDuc to go into conversion therapy. That has now changed fundamentally. “Now my family is joining me on the Pride march,” LeDuc said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
First non-binary person at Tokyo Olympics
In Beijing, Timothy LeDuc is aiming for a top five place in pair skating with Ashley Cain-Gribble. LeDuc has already secured a place in the history books of the Winter Games, which have been taking place since 1924. However, LeDuc is not the first non-binary person to compete in the Olympics. A non-binary person, Quinn, lined up for the Canada women’s soccer team at last year’s Summer Games in Tokyo.
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Source: Stern
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