Winter Olympics 2018: Eric Radford has become the first openly gay athlete to ever win a gold medal

Eric Radford has become the first ever openly gay man to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

The Canadian athlete won gold in the team figure skating event after he and his partner Meagan Duhamel skated magnificently to Adele's Hometown Glory.

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(Twitter/rad85e)[/caption]

He followed in the footsteps of Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, who got a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Elsewhere in the team event, gay skater Adam Rippon made history for Team USA by taking a bronze medal after performing a solo skate to Coldplay’s O and Arrival of the Birds by Cinematic Orchestra.

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But it was Radford's team who earned first place, with the skater winning gold alongside Gabrielle Daleman, Patrick Chan, Kaetlyn Osmond, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

The 33-year-old, who also used Hometown Glory to win gold at the 2016 World Championships, posted on Twitter about breaking this huge barrier at the Pyeongchang Games.

He wrote: "This is amazing!

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"I literally feel like I might explode with pride. #Olympics #outandproud # ️‍ ".

Radford came out in the same year that he won a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVKq3rEA3mj/

At the time, he said: "I used to joke around that I’m the ultimate pair-boy.


“I never had to worry about developing an off-ice relationship.”

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Radford will compete again in the pairs tournament, while Rippon will perform another men’s single.

Speaking after his performance, Rippon said: “I want to throw up. I want to go over to the judges and say, ‘Can I just have a Xanax and a quick drink? I’ll be fine.’ But I kept it together.”

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Fans across the world applauded Radford's achievement.

One wrote: "You are such a class act and in New Orleans we took time off from Mardi Gras to give you one enormous standing ovation - sooo proud!!!! ".

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(Twitter/erick70115)[/caption]

Another told him that "you should be proud ️‍ . And all of Canada is proud of you!"

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And yet another said: "This Canadian loving American is so proud of you and of all you amazing teammates.

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"O Canada our home and native land…".

Watch Radford's incredible performance here:

Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford (Team Canada) figure skating to “Hometown Glory” at the #Olympics !Full video at: https://t.co/NimAqIIpzQ pic.twitter.com/DvMWfZPKK1
— Adele Union (@AdeleUnion) February 12, 2018