Canadian skating pair Eric Radford and Meagan Duhamel won the gold medal at the Grand Prix Final, just a week after Radford came out publicly. The World Championship bronze medalists beat out pairs from Russia and China, who took silver and bronze. It's the biggest win for the duo since they began skating together in 2010; They finished seventh at the Olympic Games in Sochi.

It's a big deal to see Radford and Duhamel succeed in this year-end event. We hear about the potential pitfalls of coming out publicly in the middle of a season. Instead, Radford did it and was able to focus and perform well enough to earn a seven-point edge with Duhamel over the silver medalists.

While TV commentators said Radford looked freer out on the ice, Radford texted me from Spain that he has felt free for a while. He said he's gotten no negative reactions to his coming-out story, "other than some eye rolling, 'what's the big deal' comments."

The big deal is that Radford is an openly gay man and a champion. In a judged sport, that's a big deal. Radford was obviously right in this case – the judges did not hurt his scores because he came out as gay.

Congratulations to both of them – watch them put on the performances of their lives below!

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