{{short description|Canadian boxer}} {{Infobox sportsperson | image = | imagesize = | caption = | nationality = | sport = Boxing |disability = |disability_class = | event = | club = | coach = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1962|5|4}} | birth_place = Toronto, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|7|22|1962|5|4|df=y}} | death_place = Toronto, Canada | retired= | height = | weight = | pb = | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry | {{CAN}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalSilver| 1992 Barcelona | Light Welterweight}} }}
'''Mark Leduc''' (May 4, 1962 – July 22, 2009) was a boxer from Canada, 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 (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 athlete in CBC Radio's documentary "The Last Closet", which aired on the weekly sports series ''The Inside Track'';<ref name=remembered>{{cite news |url = https://www.cbc.ca/sports/leduc-remembered-as-olympic-champ-gay-role-model-1.827049 |title = Leduc remembered as Olympic champ, gay role model |first = Chris |last = Iorfida |date = July 24, 2009 |publisher = CBC Sports |access-date = 2012-02-21}}</ref> 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, also granted an anonymous interview to the same program.<ref name=remembered /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biol1/leduc01.html |title = Mark Leduc |last = Koymasky |first = Matt & Andrej |work = The Living Room: Biographies |date = July 25, 2009 |accessdate = 2012-02-21}}</ref> He also later volunteered as a speaker and mentor for various LGBT youth groups.<ref name=remembered />
He attended Toronto’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 Toronto. He had collapsed in the sauna of St. Mark's Spa and doctors suggested that his death may have resulted from heat stroke.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.thestar.com/sports/article/671345 |title = Mark Leduc, 47: Gay athlete, Olympic medallist |last = Wong |first = Danielle |work = Toronto Star |publisher = Torstar |date = July 24, 2009 |accessdate = 2012-02-21}}</ref> In 2019 playwright Raymond Helkio wrote ''"LEDUC: A Public Life of Solitude"'', a play documenting the life and death of Mark Leduc.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{sports links}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leduc, Mark}} Category:1962 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Deaths from hyperthermia Category:LGBTQ boxers Category:Canadian gay sportsmen Category:Olympic boxers for Canada Category:Olympic medalists in boxing Category:Olympic silver medalists for Canada Category:Boxers from Toronto Category:Canadian male boxers Category:Boxers at the 1991 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games boxers for Canada Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Light-welterweight boxers Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen