Eric Radford (born January 27, 1985) is a retired Canadian pair skater. With former partner Meagan Duhamel, he is a two-time world champion (2015, 2016), a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, a 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the team event, a 2018 Olympic bronze medallist in the pairs event, a two-time Four Continents champion (2013, 2015), the 2014–15 Grand Prix Final champion, and a seven-time Canadian national champion (2012–18). He is the first openly gay man to have won a gold medal at any Winter Olympics.
During the 2014 Olympics, Duhamel and Radford became the first pair to land a side-by-side triple Lutz jump at any Winter Olympic competition. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, 33-year-old Radford won a gold medal as part of the figure skating team event, becoming one of the oldest Olympic champions in figure skating. Three days later, during the individual pairs free skate, Duhamel and Radford became the first team to complete a quadruple throw jump at any Winter Olympic competition when she landed their throw quadruple Salchow.
In April 2021, Radford announced a return to competition with new partner Vanessa James. They represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics and were the bronze medalists at the 2022 World Championships. Following this, Radford retired for a second time.
Early & Personal life
Radford was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Balmertown, Ontario. His parents are Rick, a mine inspector, and Valerie, a retired schoolteacher. He moved to Kenora at age 14, to Winnipeg and Montreal at 15, and to Toronto at 16 to pursue his skating ambitions. He studied music at York University and holds a Grade 9 Royal Conservatory of Music certificate. He plays piano and writes and composes music, and registered as a member of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada in 2014. During the summer of 2016, Radford composed the 2016–17 free skate music for fellow Canadian skater and three-time world champion Patrick Chan.
In December 2014, Radford publicly came out as gay in an interview with the LGBT publication Outsports. In doing so, he became the first competitive figure skater ever to come out at the height of his career while still a contender for championship titles, rather than waiting until he was near or past retirement; at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships, Radford and Duhamel's gold medal win in pairs skating made him the first openly gay figure skater ever to win a medal at that competition. He is an ambassador for the Canadian Olympic Committee's #OneTeam program to combat homophobia in sports.
Radford became engaged to his boyfriend, Spanish ice dancer Luis Fenero, on June 10, 2017. They wed on July 12, 2019, at noon.
In addition to competing, Radford also coaches and composes performance music for skating.
In June 2018, the municipality of Red Lake, which includes Radford's home community of Balmertown, named the street he grew up on Eric Radford Way in his honour. On the same day, Red Lake held its second-ever Pride parade, with Radford walking along with then fiancé and current husband Luis Fenero, family and friends.
Skating career
Early career
Radford began skating when he was eight years old, after being inspired by watching Nancy Kerrigan skate in the 1992 Winter Olympics. He competed with Sarah Burke on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in 2003 in the Czech Republic and 2004 in Hungary, placing 6th and 5th respectively. He also competed in single skating. At the 2005 Canadian Championships, he became trapped in an elevator just before he was scheduled to skate in the men's qualifying round but eventually escaped and was able to compete.
Radford teamed up with Rachel Kirkland in 2005. They were coached by Brian Orser in Toronto and part-time by Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz, Germany. They competed at the 2007 Canadian Championships, where they finished 5th. After finishing 7th at the 2009 Canadian Championships, they ended their partnership.
Radford moved back to Montreal in 2009. He teamed up with Anne-Marie Giroux and finished 8th at the 2010 Canadian Championships.
2010–2011 season: First season with Duhamel
At a coach's suggestion, Radford had a tryout with Meagan Duhamel, and they decided to compete together. They won a silver medal at the 2011 Canadian Championships and were assigned to the 2011 Four Continents Championships and the 2011 World Championships. At Four Continents, the pair won a silver medal.