Eric Radford doesn’t rattle off the ready-for-late-night bon mots of Rippon, but in many ways, his historic queer narrative is even more interesting. Radford came out publicly in 2015, the same year he won his first of two world championships in pairs, making him the first openly gay man to win that title. Earlier this week, Radford won a gold medal in the team event, making him the first openly gay man to win a Winter Olympic gold. Last night, he earned an additional bronze medal in the pairs event with partner Meagan Duhamel. Everything’s coming up, Radford! But for some reason, probably because Radford is not in a
high-profile standoff with his nation’s executive branch, he hasn’t caused the same media frenzy as Rippon at this Olympics.
Radford’s skating is incredibly different from Rippon’s. Whereas the latter’s style shouts, “Let me be your star!” Radford serves up a much more subdued elegance that whispers, “How can I help you?” And indeed, Radford’s pair work with Meagan Duhamel bespeaks a team of two equals, and perhaps that’s because Radford doesn’t fit into a hetero archetype. Without being forced to fit themselves into familiar romantic storylines in their program, Duhamel and Radford are free to explore other ways that men and women relate.
: https://twitter.com/mhjd_85/status/975128316247248896
