Mark Leduc (May 4, 1962 – July 22, 2009) was a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, who won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.

Amateur career

*Amateur Record: 184-26 *Won an Olympic Silver Medal 1992 for Canada.

Olympic results

*Defeated Godfrey Wakaabu (Uganda) 9-2 *Defeated Dillon Carew (Guyana) 5-0 *Defeated Laid Bouneb (Algeria) 8-1 *Defeated Leonard Dorin (Romania) 13-6 *Lost to

Héctor Vinent Héctor Vinent Cháron (born July 25, 1972, in Santiago de Cuba) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who won the Light Welterweight Gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games o ...

(Cuba) 1-11

Professional boxing career

Leduc turned pro in 1992 and had limited success. He retired in 1993 with a record of 4-1-0 after losing to

Michel Galarneau Michel Galarneau (born March 1, 1961) is a Canadian-born French former ice hockey centre. He played 78 games in the National Hockey League with the Hartford Whalers between 1980 and 1983, while mainly playing in the minor leagues. He moved to Eu ...

Retirement and coming out

In 1993, Leduc spoke about being a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

athlete in

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's documentary "The Last Closet", which aired on the weekly sports series ''

The Inside Track ''The Inside Track'' was a Canadian radio series, which formerly aired on CBC Radio One. A documentary and interview series exploring social and cultural issues in the world of sports, the program was hosted by Mark Lee, Mary Hynes and Robin Br ...

''; as he was not yet ready to officially

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

, the interview was aired anonymously and recorded through a voice filter. Another Canadian athlete who would also subsequently come out as gay,

Mark Tewksbury Mark Roger Tewksbury, (born February 7, 1968) is a Canadian former competitive swimming (sport), swimmer. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also hosted the first season of ...

, also granted an anonymous interview to the same program. In 1994, Leduc officially came out as gay in the TV documentary ''For the Love of the Game'', one of the few boxers ever to do so. He also later volunteered as a speaker and mentor for various LGBT youth groups. He attended

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

’s

Pride Parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

in 1999 as grand marshal with Savoy Howe. Leduc worked for and volunteered with the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation, later becoming a set-builder and construction worker in the film industry. Leduc died on July 22, 2009, in

. He had collapsed in the

sauna A sauna (, ) is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is used to meas ...

of St. Mark's Spa and doctors suggested that his death may have resulted from

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun-stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstro ...

. In 2019 playwright Raymond Helkio wrote ''"LEDUC: A Public Life of Solitude"'', a play documenting the life and death of Mark Leduc.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leduc, Mark 1962 births 2009 deaths Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Deaths from hyperthermia LGBTQ boxers Canadian gay sportsmen Olympic boxers for Canada Olympic medalists in boxing Olympic silver medalists for Canada Boxers from Toronto Canadian male boxers Boxers at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games boxers for Canada Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Light-welterweight boxers 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian sportsmen