Timothy LeDuc (born May 4, 1990) is a retired American pair skater. With their skating partner, Ashley Cain, they are a two-time U.S. national champion (2019, 2022), the 2018 Four Continents silver medalist, and a two-time Grand Prix medalist. They are the first openly gay skater to win the pairs title at the U.S. Championships and the first openly non-binary athlete to qualify for the Winter Olympics.
Personal life
Timothy LeDuc was born May 4, 1990, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When they first came out as gay at age 18, fellow Christians attempted to make them straight through conversion therapy, which LeDuc rejected. After they came out as non-binary, their family later came to accept their identity; LeDuc remarked, "Now my parents walk with me in Trans Pride marches and in Pride marches."[1]
LeDuc became interested in figure skating after watching the 2002 Olympics and started taking figure skating lessons through the Learn to Skate program.[2] LeDuc is the first openly gay skater to win the pairs title at the U.S. Championships.[3] LeDuc is non-binary, and began using they/them pronouns in 2021.[4][5]
Career
Single skating
LeDuc began learning to skate when they were 12 years old and started private lessons two years later.[6] They placed 7th in the novice men's category at the 2008 U.S. Championships.[7]
Early partnerships
Competing in novice pairs, LeDuc placed tenth with Lauren Gifford at the 2010 U.S. Championships.
LeDuc teamed up with DeeDee Leng in June 2012.[8] After placing ninth at the 2013 U.S. Championships, they were assigned to the International Challenge Cup, where they finished fifth. The following season, the pair placed sixth at the 2013 International Cup of Nice and seventh at the 2014 U.S. Championships. After their partnership ended in 2014, LeDuc skated with their sister for two years in Willy Bietak ice shows on Royal Caribbean cruise ships.[9] After completing their contract in March 2016, they decided to return to competition.[10]
Following the Grand Prix, Cain/LeDuc competed in a third Challenger event, the Golden Spin of Zagreb. Second after the short program, the two placed fifth in the free skate following two falls. The second fall involved Cain being dropped on her head while exiting a lift, seemingly being knocked unconscious briefly, before getting up and completing the program. She was subsequently taken to the hospital. There was considerable controversy amongst commentators that the referee had not halted the performance.[16][17] Cain was subsequently diagnosed with a concussion.
At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Cain/LeDuc won their first US pairs title after placing second in the short program and first in the free skate. Speaking afterward, LeDuc credited Cain's recovery, saying it "was like building a castle, one brick at a time. It’s been so inspiring for me to watch her push through this and give me strength. We are always trying to progress as a team, and this season, we took it very seriously, and we wanted to step it up."[18] As national champions, Cain/LeDuc were assigned to compete at the 2019 Four Continents Championships in early February and as America's sole pairs team at the 2019 World Championships in Saitama, Japan.
Cain/LeDuc finished fourth at the Four Continents Championships, the highest placement for an American team, after finishing fourth in both segments. Cain had struggled in the practice sessions beforehand and felt dehydrated, but recovered and said she was satisfied with how they had performed.[19]
At the World Championships, their first, Cain/LeDuc, placed ninth. LeDuc described the season as a "rollercoaster", given the issues with injuries, while Cain expressed pleasure at having earned a second pairs spot for the United States at the following year's World Championships.[20][21] Cain/LeDuc concluded their season as part of the gold medal-winning Team USA at the 2019 World Team Trophy.[22]
2019–20 season
Cain/LeDuc began the season at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic, where they won gold, defeating reigning World silver medalists Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov. They were considered one of the favorites for the gold medal at their first Grand Prix assignment of the year, the 2019 Skate America.[23] They placed third in the short program after Cain fell on their throw triple Lutz.[24] In the free skate, they had a second throw Lutz fall, as well as a popped side-by-side jump attempt and an aborted lift, which dropped them to fifth place overall.[25] At their second Grand Prix, the 2019 Internationaux de France, Cain again fell on their throw Lutz in the short program, putting them fourth after that segment.[26] They finally landed the throw Lutz in the free skate but remained in fourth place overall after Cain fell on their side-by-side triple Salchow attempt.[27]
Competing at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Cain/LeDuc were fourth in the short program after she two-footed the landing of their throw Lutz and an error resulted in their death spiral element being completely invalidated.[28] Struggling with the quality of elements in the free skate, they remained in fourth place overall, winning the pewter medal. LeDuc remarked, "it just wasn't in the cards for us today.[29]
Cain/LeDuc were assigned to begin the season at the 2020 Skate America, which, due to the ISU's desire to minimize international travel during the pandemic, was attended only by skaters training in the United States.[31] They placed fourth in the short program after both underrotated their jumps and Cain two-footed the land of their throw Lutz.[32] They were third in the free skate, but remained in fourth place overall.[33]
Competing next at the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, they placed fourth in the short program after Cain-Gribble fell on her jump attempt and again two-footed the throw Lutz landing.[34] Second in the free skate, they rose to the bronze medal position overall.[35] They were named as first alternates to the 2021 World team and were later called up after the withdrawal of silver medalists Calalang/Johnson.[36] They placed ninth at the World Championships.[37]
On the Grand Prix at 2021 Skate Canada International, Cain/LeDuc were sixth in the short program, but a second-place free skate took them to the bronze medal. Cain said, "there were a lot of levels we didn’t get which kept our score under the 130-mark, but we are going to focus on consistency" looking forward.[40] They placed fourth at their second event, the 2021 NHK Trophy, finishing with a new personal best in the free skate.[41]
With defending national champions Knierim/Frazier forced to withdraw from the 2022 U.S. Championships but still anticipated to be named to the U.S. Olympic team, the contest for the second American berth was widely seen to be between Cain/LeDuc and Calalang/Johnson. Cain/LeDuc placed first in both segments of the competition, with the only error being Cain doubling out on a planned triple Salchow jump, while Calalang/Johnson made several errors and finished in second.[42] They were named to the U.S. Olympic team the following day.[43] LeDuc called the prospect "something we've dreamed about for a long time. We have worked so extremely hard and have visualized this so many times."[42] LeDuc became the first out non-binary athlete assigned to compete at the Winter Olympics.[44] In a February 2022 interview, LeDuc said that rather than a "romantic" approach to pair skating, they and Cain "[have] always been about equality and showing two amazing athletes coming together to create something beautiful."[45] Commenting on the partnership, their coach, Peter Cain, stated: "They don't ever point fingers or blame each other. One person can make a mistake, and it’s the team, not the individual."[46]
At the 2022 Winter Olympics in the pairs event, Cain/LeDuc placed eighth. They skated a strong short program to finish seventh in the segment. Cain had injured her right ankle in practice days earlier but said that "in the last two years, what we've learned the most is how to adapt to what has come our way, and this was just another thing that we needed to adapt to."[47] In the free skate, Cain had multiple jump errors that dropped them to ninth in that segment and eighth overall.[48]
Days after the Olympics concluded, Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian skaters from competing at the 2022 World Championships. As well, the Chinese Skating Association opted not to send athletes to compete in Montpellier. As those countries’ athletes comprised the entirety of the top five pairs at the Olympics, this greatly impacted the field. Cain-Gribble/LeDuc entered the event as medal favorites.[49] They placed second in the short program with a mostly clean program.[50] Cain struggled in the free skate, falling on her triple loop jump and a throw triple Lutz, before a third fall on a triple Salchow caused her to hit her head on the ice. The program was stopped, and Cain was taken off the ice by medics on a stretcher for evaluation.[51]
On June 13, Cain-Gribble and Leduc announced their retirement from competitive skating. LeDuc announced plans to move to Chicago to begin coaching.[52]
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