Equality on Ice: U.S. Figure Skaters LeDuc, Cain-Gribble on Breaking Boundaries in Beijing

In case you hadn’t heard, Timothy LeDuc, who skates in the pairs division with Ashley Cain-Gribble, made history in February by becoming the first openly nonbinary athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics.  

LeDuc, 31, is over six feet tall, wears a full dark beard and has appeared on an NBC video wearing sparkly, aqua eyeshadow.

Partner Cain-Gribble, 26, is a blond Texan with a powerful, five-and-a-half foot frame, whose height and shape have caused many to count her out for success in the sport.

Together, this distinctive duo finished their first Olympics Games in eighth place. They were one of two American teams to score the first top-eight finishes since 1998, achieving a personal best on their short skate and numerous Level 4 elements in both their short and long programs.  

“It was such a complex experience filled with so many joyous, amazing moments,”  reflects LeDuc, who was born and raised in Cedar Rapids. “We were also really nostalgic because we felt so connected with our childhood selves that were dreaming about having this moment for the last 26 years.”

LeDuc and Cain-Gribble entered the Olympics as two-time U.S. national champions, Four Continents silver medalists, and three-time Grand Prix Series medallists. 

But perhaps what sets them out from their peers is their nuanced understandings of gender, partnership, and equality. The two perform numerous matching throw lifts, side-by-side jumps, lifts, and spirals.They exude and echo each other’s strengths and grace, and this sense of partnership also extends from their skating elements to their choice of costuming. For their Olympic freeskate program to the Winter Olympics, they both wore elegant, matching, lace-sequined unitards.

“For me, a unitard means power,“ Cain-Gribble says, “and I think it shows us in an equal way. We are two units, two energies working together to create these programs.” She says that with their music and their choreography, they are always trying to “show equality on the ice.” 

Beyond the matching costumes, OFM also learned that LeDuc sometimes rehearses in crop tops and mesh, and that their understanding of themself as a nonbinary person goes way back. 

“I think it was always something I always understood and just didn’t have the language to describe it,” they say. Knowing “amazing queer people” helped LeDuc with the process, as they learned that “there are people that exist outside the binary, and that was OK.”

They came out slowly to people they cared about, and then in 2021, the skater went public as nonbinary and began using they/them pronouns. 

Cain-Gribble admits that it took a little time for her to adjust.  

“Timothy had a lot of patience with me, starting to use the pronouns and going through the journey,” she says. At this point, she’s also clearly thought a lot about what it means to be on the side of a nonbinary partner.

“As an ally, the most important thing is to make sure that you’re always standing up for them when they’re not in the room or if people are misgendering them.”

Off the ice, LeDuc’s love life is also plentifully public. After the live coverage of the couple’s beautiful short skate, NBC cut away to show Gerald Morales, LeDuc’s boyfriend, cheering like crazy.

“We met online (during the pandemic) because it was nearly impossible to go out in a safe way,” LeDuc explains. “We spent a lot of time on FaceTime getting to know each other.”  

They’ve just celebrated their one-year anniversary and live together in Dallas, not far from where LeDuc and Cain-Gribble train, with her parents, Peter and Darlene Cain.

Rounding out the family unit is Cain-Gribble’s husband, Dalton. Married in 2019, the pair definitely have a life away from the rink, Cain-Gribble says, “to stay healthy, sane people.”  

But they’re also chums with LeDuc and Morales. “We’re so close,” she says, noting that when they’re all on the road, they love to find good food together. “And shopping—shopping together!” LeDuc chimes in. 

On a more serious note, they pause to consider our final question about the future of such a highly gendered sport.  

“It’s such a complex topic,” LeDuc says, “and gender and gender binary is so big and baked into every aspect of society.” LeDuc and Cain-Gribble both serve on the U.S. Figure Skating Athletes Advisory Committee and believe in the power of personal stories.  

“It is my hope is that my participation in the Olympic event starts more conversations,” LeDuc says, “and helps make it more attractive and accessible for everyone.”