First out gay athlete to win medal in 2018 olympics

All eyes will turn to Pyeongchang County, South Korea this weekend, as nations gather for the Winter Olympic Games, held Feb. 9 – And this year more than ever, gay and lesbian athletes will be representing their countries — and, to a degree, the LGBT community worldwide. Congratulations to Canadian Eric Radford for becoming the first out gay athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Radford and his partner, Meagan Duhamel, picked up the gold in. But there's another significant benchmark to recognize: Radford has become the first openly gay athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. With their team event figure skating medals — Radford with gold and Rippon with bronze — they are the first two publicly out gay men to ever win a Winter Olympic medal.

Canadian figure skater Eric Radford said he 'might explode with pride' after becoming the first openly gay man to ever win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. The team figure skating, which debuted four years ago, sees each nation compete in the men's, women's, pairs', and ice dance disciplines. Radford says that stigma still exists in the world of sport.

He first out gay athlete to win medal in 2018 olympics got a shoutout from actress Reese Witherspoon, whom Rippon claimed he wanted to make proud before his first Olympic competition. She said in an interview at the time that no one would ask her athletic male counterpart, Dutch medallist Sven Kramer about his relationship, "so why would you ask me"?

Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Radford and Rippon posed together with their medals after the event, with Radford writing, "So proud to be wearing these medals and showing the world what we can do!

A Brief History of Openly Gay Olympians

Many Games viewers with no prior knowledge of winter sports have been won over by the year-old - including Hollywood star Reece Witherspoon. Read her work at zsayler. The United States used the Olympic platform as an opportunity for subtle protest, including prominent gay athletes Brian Boitano, Billie Jean King and Caitlin Cahow in its Olympic delegation, and protests were staged across the world.

Rippon was not the only gay athlete to make history. Sorry, those are just the rules. Infour of the players on the U. There, in a fiery, unflinching athletic spectacle, Curry abandoned his usual lively routine of skips and hops for a stern technical masterpiece, making him the first openly gay athlete to perform on the Olympic stage. By John Paul Brammer. Search Menu. By Jeff Semple Global News. But it was first out gay athlete to win medal in 2018 olympics than a decade earlier when an openly gay athlete first performed in the Olympic Games.

There are gay role models at every turn — on television, on local sports, and in our communities. BC Lions set to take on Edmonton. Click to return to homepage Leave a comment Share this item on Facebook Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Twitter Send this page to someone via email See more sharing options. Radford came out in after the Sochi Olympics and says once he did, his performance improved.

This article is more than 7 years old and some information may not be up to date. Of the nearly 3, athletes competing at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, only 14 are openly gay; including American figure skater Adam Rippon, who snapped a photo with Radford after winning bronze in the same event. Another replied: "It matters to people legitimately afraid of losing jobs or getting abused if they are open about being gay.

Some on Twitter questioned why it made a difference if Radford was gay or straight. Latest Stories U. Along with Kenworthy, waiting to compete is U. After dazzling the judges with his bronze medal-winning performance, choreographed to Coldplay and executed in a shimmering costume a signature of Rippon'sthe veteran skater opened up about scoring his first Olympic win. In more recent years, athletes have waited to come out until after their time in competition was over, including figure skaters Johnny Weir and Brian Boitano and American diver Greg Louganis.

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