Mark LEDUC

By the time he was 12, Mark Leduc was certain of two things, his homosexuality and an abiding love for boxing. He started training in Toronto's East End, but when his parents separated when he was only 15, he was forced to live on the streets. Shortly after that, he was caught robbing a jewelry store at gunpoint and was sentenced to six years in prison, where he was able to train and box at Collins Bay Penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario. Released after three years he went back to boxing and training, winning Canadian Championships in 1989, 1991, and 1992. After the Barcelona Olympics, Leduc had a very brief pro career, winning his first four pro fights, losing his fifth, and then retiring from the fight game. In 1994, he came out as a gay man during the televised documentary For the Love of the Game, and was later grand marshal of Toronto's Gay Pride Parade in 1999. After his boxing career he working as a set-builder and construction worker in the film industry.