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 ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, 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 Laid may refer to: *"Get laid", a slang term for sexual intercourse Geography *Laid, Sutherland, a township in Scotland * Chelghoum Laïd District, a district of Mila Province, Algeria *Laid (Estonian: island) as in: **Saarnaki laid, an island in ...

(Algeria) 8-1 *Defeated

Leonard Dorin Leonard Dorin Doroftei (, also known as ''Leonard Dorin''; born 10 April 1970) is a Romanian former boxer, the WBA Lightweight World Champion from 5 January 2002 to 24 October 2003. Amateur highlights Doroftei took up boxing at the age of 14 ...

(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.

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 1 ...

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 B ...

''; as he was not yet ready to officially come out, 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 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 ''How It's Made'', ...

, 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 ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

’s Pride Parade 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 (, ), or sudatory, is a small 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 ...

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 heatstroke, ...

. 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 Gay sportsmen LGBT boxers Canadian LGBT sportspeople Olympic boxers of 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 competitors for Canada Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Light-welterweight boxers 20th-century Canadian LGBT people Canadian gay men