'We could have crumbled': Figure skater Eric Radford celebrates 2 medal Olympics and looks ahead
Radford and Duhamel won a bronze in pairs and gold in team event
After battling an injury to his right hip just before the world championships last year, figure skater Eric Radford and his partner Meagan Duhamel, never imagined they would be capping off their successful careers with two Olympic medals from the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
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After winning a gold medal in the team event, Radford and Duhamel also brought home a bronze medal for their pairs event.
"It has been intensely busy but all very exciting at the same time," Radford said, "It has been a non-stop whirlwind of interviews and events and I just flew home from Australia yesterday."
He said with shows coming up in Korea and Japan, Radford is squeezing in a special trip to his home town of Balmertown in Red Lake, Ont. to show off the Olympic medals but also thank the supporters who have been there for him since the beginning.
"I'm going to just bring my medals up and share them with the whole town," Radford expressed, "they've supported me through so much for so long that I just want to share my success with them as much as I can."
Keeping perspective during challenging times
It wasn't too long ago that Radford suffered some serious set backs while practicing for the world championships in 2017.
"I look back a year ago after worlds [and] I really almost did lose hope," Radford said," I just really felt like am I really ever going to get back to that high level we were at?"
He said looking back now, it was his unwavering confidence in his ability and the struggle to always maintain perspective that pulled him through the dark times and onto the Olympic podium in Pyeongchang.
"Standing on the podium, both times, it is amazing," Radford said. "We could have crumbled but we didn't."
Representing the LGBTQ community
As the first openly gay winter Olympic gold medallist, Radford came home with much more than a bronze and gold medal from the 2018 Winter Olympics.
"It just makes my heart burst with pride that I get to represent that community on that stage and represent them there on top of the podium," Radford said.
He said to top it all off, during this year's Winter Olympics the Canadian Olympic House was also called Pride House.
"What really makes me feel the best is that my success in skating is allowing me to have a larger voice in being able to make a bigger difference for the LGBTQ community," Radford continued, "and I feel like it's just so appropriate that the Canada house was home to pride house."
He said although this is his last Olympic games, he's excited to embark a new chapter in his life while continuing to stay involved in the world of figure skating.
"I'm always going to keep my foot in the door with skating ... but my new big goal is going to be with my music," Radford, who plays the piano and has worked as a composer, said, "[I will] take some time and educate myself as much I can and really pursue it with the same degree and with the same energy and focus that I pursued skating."