John Curry: How Olympic champion and LGBT icon revolutionised figure skating

John Curry was an icon, a trailblazer and one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.

His elegant, balletic style revolutionised a sport he came to dominate in 1976, when he won the Olympic, world, European and British titles.

Shortly after his Olympic victory, Curry was outed as gay, making him one of the most high-profile LGBT sportspeople of his time.

Curry, who died of an AIDS-related heart attack aged 44 in 1994, remains an inspiration to the LGBT+ community today.

As part of LGBT history month, BBC Sport looks at how Curry changed his sport and his ongoing impact, through his words and those of athletes he inspired.

Birmingham-born Curry wanted to take ballet lessons when he was young, but was stopped from doing so by his father, so he turned to ice skating.

«Ice skating is protected by the umbrella of sport, so it was quite acceptable,» he said.

He developed a unique style, incorporating elements of ballet and modern dance together with technical excellence and prodigious natural talent — later teaching himself how to do a triple loop jump.

But what was encouraged as a boy, was met with hostility as a man, with Curry's style challenging gender norms.

«I was told I shouldn't use my arms, I shouldn't do spirals, I shouldn't try and make everything look so effortless and graceful,» he said.

«I was actually told not to be so graceful.»

American skater Adam Rippon, who won team bronze at the 2018 Winter Olympics, said Curry's skating was «so beautiful, so pure» and «unlike anything I had ever seen before».

«It was the first time I saw somebody who skated like a man, but they could also skate like a beautiful woman,» he added.

Robin Cousins, who followed Curry as Olympic champion in 1980, said his contemporary had an exceptional