If it’s not drag shows at NBA games, it is a transgender figure skater making his mark at the European Skating Championship’s opening ceremony.

Unusual scenes played out on Wednesday at the figure skating competition in Espoo, Finland. During the opening ceremony of the European Championships, the hosts decided to present the first transgender skater from her country . Minna-Maaria Antikainen took to the ice during the flag presentation.

One would presume that this would be a figure skater who has been skating for years, has competed consistently as a man, but has now decided to skate as a woman. Which would, given men like Lia Thomas, would give him a skate up on his fellow women competitors…right? Wrong. 

The theme of the opening ceremony for the European Championships was “Just Be You!”

“The opening ceremony will present skaters at various levels from non-professionals to top athletes. On the ice, we will see Single Skaters, Synchronized Skaters, and Pairs. Included among the performers are Figure Skater Minna-Maaria Antikainen, who defines herself as a gender-neutral woman, adaptive skating performers, and a male synchronized skating team,” said coach Helena Tienhaara.

“With the diverse group of performers, we want to show that the ice has space for everyone,” choreographer and coach Beata Leppilampi said.

Well, evidently Minna decided he needed to be him and then some. 

European skating event opening ceremonies features a solo performance by Minna-Maaria Aktikainen, a middle aged man who decided he's actually a lovely "ice princess." Please watch the video to see how it turned out https://t.co/5bdPQ8IrKL pic.twitter.com/mKrMQr5Egr

— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) January 28, 2023

That was…painfully embarrassing on every level. 

The dude is a farmer who decided long ago that he had always wanted to be a figure skater, and then decided he wanted to be a woman. Evidently he, while still a man, competed in amateur competitions.

Known before the transition as Markku-Pekka Antikainen, the competitor started skating after her family broke up 17 years ago. In 2014, Elise Luovula, the 1985 Finnish figure skating champion, became her coach. Three years after starting professional training – still as a man – Antikainen took 3rd place at the informal World Amateur Figure Skating Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. However, she was not allowed to collect her medal because she came to the ceremony in a skirt.

OH. 

Here’s my problem with this. There were amazing skaters, men and women, at that competition. Showcasing those who don’t and never will rise to that level of sheer athleticism during the opening ceremony makes a mockery of all of their hard work. Decades of hard work shunted aside in favor of glamorizing transgenders.

A 59-year-old farmer from Finland who uses the name "Minna-Maaria" Antikainen performed at the opening ceremony of the European Figure Skating Championships in Espoo this week.

Antikainen said it was to fulfill a childhood dream of being an "ice princess." pic.twitter.com/Pbd4M0LqTl

— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) January 29, 2023

All of this is because suddenly the figure skating community wants to be inclusive, welcoming, and diverse! 

“Figure skating is a very conservative sport with various strict rules. In international competitions, same-sex skating pairs are not allowed, and there is no category for non-binary skaters. I hope that every country will start working for equality and diversity in the field.”

So, what do they do? Introduce a figure skater who, embarrassingly for him and them, cannot skate and I would shudder to think what would happen if he tried a triple lutz! 

“We want to change the figure skating world by showing that talking about a skater’s weight is not the top priority, but muscular, healthy athletes may also succeed at the top level. It is important that we have different-looking skaters of various sizes in the competitions,” Wuorenheimo continued.

Holy cow. Has this woman been hiding under a rock all these years? Skaters, GOOD skaters, are amazing athletes bar none. But Wuorenheimo wants muscle-bound trans athletes on the ice who can’t even last two minutes without falling down? All because diversity and inclusivity are supposed to trump true athleticism and hard work? 

This is why the transgender craze and the bowing down to the minority who INSIST that they be given top billing is harming this society. 

The athletes who competed at ESPOO in Finland absolutely deserved better than this. 

It’s also a slap in the face to the very many famous men and women who have elevated the sport of figure skating so well for decades. From Peggy Fleming to Dorothy Hamill. From Katarina Witt to Torvill and Dean. From Ulrich Salchow to Dick Buttons to Robin Cousins to Scott Hamilton. 

Torvill and Dean’s 1984 Olympic winning skate to Bolero is still one of my favorites. Yet so is most anything that Scott Hamilton (who has battled cancer and WON multiple times) has done on the ice. 

Simply put, figure skating is an incredibly athletic sport that requires hard work and dedication. The skating organization who showcased a wobbly unathletic transgender for their opening ceremony issued a slap in the face to all the athletes who had worked their butts off to get to that competition. 

If you want to be a transgender who skates, swims, skis, or does whatever sport …create your own league. 

Feature Photo Credit: Female figure skater via Pixabay, cropped and modified