In a trend that has become more and more popular in recent years, Olympic figure skater Eric Radford has decided to come out as gay before his bid for the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.

According to Outsports, Eric Radford has come out as gay during the height of his competitive career, a move that no elite figure skater has done before except for Rudy Galindo in 1996.

"Oh, a gay figure skater," said Radford anticipating the reactions to his coming out, "big shocker."

"My concern was that I would be known as 'the gay athlete' if I came out at the Olympics, rather than Eric the medaling figure skater who happens to be gay. And I felt uncomfortable with that title."

Radford's decision to wait to come out as gay is the same choice made by Olympic diver Tom Daley, who came out with his boyfriend Dustin Lance Black only after winning a bronze medal in 2012.

"Come spring, this year, my life changed. Massively. When I met someone and it made me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great. That someone is a guy. And it did take me by surprise a little bit," said Tom Daley in a YouTube video last year.

"It was always in the back of my head that it could happen, but it wasn't until the spring of this year that something clicked. It felt right. Like I said, my whole world just changed right there and then."

Radford's boyfriend of four years, Normand, can be spotted in the pair's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge below.

And now with his skating partner Meagan Duhamel, Radford hopes to continue his second Olympic bid as an out and proud gay man.

"I put up with a lot of crap. Not just bullying but people who just thought I couldn't make it, people in skating who don't like how Meagan and I skate, people who say we don't deserve the marks we get. I've had to overcome a lot."

"But if you believe in yourself and focus on your dream and you work hard and surround yourself with a good team who will support you, you can achieve anything you want."