Adam Rippon and Eric Radford made history Monday when they each won a medal for their country in the figure skating team event.
Radford took home gold with Team Canada, while Rippon secured a bronze with Team USA.
They were each the first two publicly out gay men to ever win a medal at the Winter Olympics. That wasn’t lost on these two as they snapped this great photo after the competition:
So proud that @Adaripp and I get to wear these medals and show the world what we can do! #represent🏳️🌈 #olympics #pyeongchang2018 #pride #outandproud #medalists #TeamNorthAmerica pic.twitter.com/eXMlZ2Utrw
— Eric Radford (@Rad85E) February 12, 2018
Certainly many gay men have won medals before them, including the likes of Brian Boitano and Brian Orser. Yet none of them have been publicly out — meaning they acknowledged they were gay publicly in the media — when they did it.
Radford came out publicly in an Outsports article in 2014. Rippon came out less than a year later. Radford won an Olympic silver medal in 2014 before he came out.
With his pairs partner, Meagan Duhamel, Radford skated both the short and free skate programs for the team event, finishing second and first respectively. Rippon skated the men’s free program, finishing third but winning the hearts of Americans and so many others with an emotional performance.
Both men will try to add to their medals later this week.
You can find complete Winter Olympics 2018 coverage on SB Nation, and Outsports will have the LGBT angle.
