Two-time Olympic medalist in ice dancing, coach Alexander Zhulin spoke about the reaction to his insults against American figure skater Timothy Leduc, who will become the first non-binary athlete at the Beijing Olympics. His words are quoted by Sport24.
“He does not know whether he is a woman or a man. Either a pig, or a fly, or an unknown little animal. And he is so with a beard, quite plastic … ”- he appreciated the athlete in verse. Zhulin said that he did not consider it necessary to apologize for his statements, and speculated that Western tolerance could lead to an increase in violence and pedophilia.
On January 11, Zhulin called Leduc a freak and could not determine in which category he needed to compete. After that, Canadian figure skater Megan Duhamel demanded that the International Skating Union punish Zhulin, and the US Figure Skating Federation condemned hate speech.
Leduc identifies himself as a gender that falls out of the binary system. He was named to the 2022 Olympics team with Ashley Kane-Gribble. In January of this year, the skaters became US champions.
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