Zhulin : The 2020 Tokyo Olympics opened the transgender world to the sports world, and a non-binary skater will perform for the first time in Beijing 2022. American Timothy LeDuke, paired with Ashley Kane-Gribble, will become the first Winter Olympics participant not to identify himself as a “man” or “woman.” In Russia, they reacted negatively to this news, and Alexander Zhulin was demanded to be punished for being rude to LeDyuk.
In the United States, the national figure skating championship was held, as a result of which the participants in the 2022 Olympics became known. A pair of Timothy LeDuke / Ashley Kane-Gribble will go to Beijing – an unusual duo that will definitely go down in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. The fact is that LeDuc came out last year, claiming that he considers himself to be non-binary people – people without “gender bias.” There has never been such or such an athlete at the Olympics, although a transgender athlete performed for the first time in Tokyo 2020 … New Zealand weightlifter Gavin Hubbard became Laurel Hubbard and competed in the women’s competition at the Tokyo Games, causing much outrage.
In Russia, information about the first non-binary athlete at the 2022 Olympics was also perceived negatively.
1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya noted that in their time the skaters did not think about orientation: “I don’t even know what to answer and how to react. As a former figure skater and no longer a young person, it is strange for me to answer such questions. Time goes by. Everything changes, and similar “innovations” appear. An American’s sexual orientation is his own business. Let’s not poke around in this. Even if he does not consider himself to either of the sexes, is still a man and a worthy acts precisely in this role “ , – quotes the former figure skater RT.
Renat Laishev, president of the Sambo-70 sports and education center, found a secret meaning in the news about LeDuc’s non-binary nature:
“In fact, this is a terrible tendency and a mockery of our country. It seems to me that they themselves do not think so about it, – said Laishev to Sport24.ru. – This is done in order to somehow stir us up, to hook us and to show that we are not tolerant and undemocratic. Such mass movements are nonsense. “
Coach Alexandra Zhulin was most indignant of all : “In what category will he perform – in men or women? Paired with a woman? He himself is like a man, it comes out. And initially he was a man, it turns out. How do I feel about this? Oh, yes, I don’t want to comment on these freaks, I don’t want to, I don’t want to. ”
Zhulin’s words touched the Canadian figure skater Megan Duhamel , who demanded punishment from the International Skating Union (ISU) for the Russian coach.
“Is this generally permissible? Why do we in figure skating tolerate such outrageous and disgusting comments? Hopefully ISU will do something to put an end to this! ”
They already wanted to punish Russian experts for “not tolerating” skaters with a non-traditional orientation. Judge from Russia Alexander Vedenin , commenting on the skating of the French Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron , noted that “They skate great, but it’s cold. The partner is gay, and you can’t disguise it. “
Vedenin’s words scattered all over the world, and the French Figure Skating Federation turned to ISU with a request to understand the Russian’s words. True, no further appeals were made, and the conflict came to naught.
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