US Figure Skating on Thursday endorsed US athlete Timothy LeDuc, the first openly nonbinary person to participate in the Winter Olympics, decrying intolerance toward LGBTQ+ members
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2022) US Figure Skating on Thursday endorsed US athlete Timothy LeDuc, the first openly nonbinary person to participate in the Winter Olympics, decrying intolerance toward LGBTQ+ members.
Early in January, it became known that LeDuc, who identifies as nonbinary, will perform at the 2022 Olympic Games in pairs skating with Ashley Cain-Gribble.
"US Figure Skating stands with our LGBTQ+ member and denounces hate speech against any member of our community. We are proud of Timothy LeDuc's groundbreaking role as Team USA's first openly nonbinary athlete and recognize the positive influence they will have as a member of the US Olympic Team," the statement said.
In 2019, LeDuc became the first openly gay skater to win a gold medal in a US pair competition.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20. It is anticipated that a record seven LGBTQ+ athletes will participate in Olympic figure skating this year. In 2018 there were only three openly LGBTQ+ figure skaters.
