Timothy Leduc, first non-binary athlete at the Winter Olympics

 

Timothy Leduc, first non-binary athlete at a Winter Olympics (Reuters)]

Adam Rippon had a memorable moment at the Olympics four years ago in Pyeongchang when his spectacular free routine helped win bronze for the United States in the team event, which opened the figure skating program. Rippon didn't just leave viewers breathless. He became the first openly gay American to medal at the Winter Olympics. Timothy LeDuc wants to do the same for American athletes who identify as non-binary. LeDuc, 31, and his partner Ashley Cain-Grible won their second national title last month in Nashville, earning them a ticket to their first Olympic Games. They are not favorites to stand on the podium in Beijing in the final round of the figure skating program, but they could help the United States to another team medal if they are selected to compete. Regardless, LeDuc will be the first openly non-binary American athlete at the Winter Olympics. https://www.milenio.com/deportes-olimpicos/juegos-olimpicos-invierno/timothy-leduc-atleta-binario-juegos-olimpicos-invernales

"This really has been a long journey for me to embrace my gender," LeDuc said. "I've had some amazing people in my life who have helped me on this journey. “But I hope that when people see my story, they don't say, 'Timothy is the first non-binary person to achieve this level of success in sports.' And it is that the 'queer' can express it openly or not and they can be in sports. We have always been here. We have always been part of the sport. We just haven't always been able to be that open ." This is true even in figure skating, which has historically been one of the most inclusive sports in the world of Winter Olympics. We must remember the case of Brian Boitano, who won gold for the United States at the 1988 Calgary Games. His duel with Canadian Brian Orser was known as "The Battle of the Brians" and is among the most memorable in sports history. . We recommend you: When do Mexicans compete in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics? But it wasn't until 2014 that Boitano came out as gay, when he was selected as part of the US delegation to the Sochi Games in Russia. Orser, who is currently one of the most reputable coaches in the world, came out as gay a decade after the Calgary Games. Johnny Weir is one of America's most beloved figure skaters, thanks in part to his work as an NBC analyst alongside Tara Lipinski. He didn't even come out as gay until after competing in the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. https://www.milenio.com/deportes-olimpicos/juegos-olimpicos-invierno/timothy-leduc-atleta-binario-juegos-olimpicos-invernales