Figure skating American LeDuc is the only the first female non-binary Winter Olympian.
BEIJING: Timothy LeDuc made history on Friday when he became the first non-binary Olympian to participate in the Winter Games.
However, the American pair figure skater hopes to clear the way for other athletes to participate in the sport without being shackled by gender stereotypes.
In a sport in which the male-female dynamic has been put displayed was an obstacle for LeDuc and his pair partner Ashley Cain-Gribble who has admitted to having been “body-shamed” as a larger than average female skater.
“It was such a joyous moment for us out there today,” LeDuc, who started using they/them pronouns from 2021, said after skating to their best season-high score at 74.13 in the short program during Beijing. Beijing Games.
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“I think both Ashley and I have had to overcome so many different things so many times when people have told us no or that we don’t belong,” LeDuc stated.
They will skate in their final free skating session after finishing seventh in the short program.
“Both Ashley and I, we had something to prove today. So I hope people watching us feel like maybe there is space for them to come into figure skating. And for them to be able to celebrate what makes them unique and different.”
LeDuc stated that many people had sent messages of encouragement and appreciation.
“I know for me, people who are non-binary, it’s only possible because amazing queer people had come before me and laid the groundwork for me. And so now I want to do that for others to come after as well.”
An unprecedented number of openly LGBTQ+ athletes are competing in this year’s Winter Olympics – at least 36, which is more than double the number who competed in Pyeongchang in 2018 – as per LGBTQ+ news site Outsports.
The Tokyo Summer Games last year witnessed the first transgender athletes openly or non-binary Olympians.
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