Gus KENWORTHY

COMING OUT
The 2015 ESPN Magazine cover that heralded his coming out interview asked: ‘is being the best in the world good enough to be accepted?’ "I think being in the closet is pretty scary for everybody because as human beings we are all afraid of rejection. I used to worry about everything that I may lose and didn’t think about what I might gain. I knew I was torturing myself by holding onto a lie but I worried that by coming out and being openly “different” from everybody else in my sport I was going to lose friends, sponsors, and income and essentially lose my grip on the sport I was so in love with. Obviously, that’s not what happened and I was very pleasantly surprised when the reaction was overwhelmingly supportive." (gbsnowsport.com)

THE KISS SEEN AROUND THE WORLD
Didn't realize that when he shared a kiss with his boyfriend at the bottom of the course at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, that it would be broadcast around the world. "I think that’s amazing. That’s something I wanted at the last Olympics, to share a kiss with my boyfriend at the bottom and it was something I was too scared to do for myself. And so to be able to do that, to give him a kiss and have that affection broadcast for the world is incredible. That’s not something I had as a kid. I didn’t see a gay athlete at the Olympics kissing their boyfriend. I think if I had it would have made it a lot easier for me.” (nytimes.com, 18 Feb 2018)

BEIJING 2022 FOR TEAM GB --- AND MUM
His mum is British and he was born outside London, where he lived the first years of his life before moving to Telluride Colorado (USA). Holding dual citizenship, in 2019 he switched to competing for the United States of America to Great Britain, and in February 2020, won his first World Cup gold medal as a GB Snowsport athlete in the halfpipe in Calgary. Will be competing in his last Olympic Winter Games at Beijing 2022 for Team GB. "This is for sure my last Games, I have really no interest in going to an Olympics past 2022. And I don't know, it's sort of like my swan song. So I wanted to dedicate it to my mum." (gq-magazine.co.uk)

BEING VERSATILE MEANS BEING BRITISH
One of the most versatile skiers in the sport, he wanted to ski in the halfpipe, slopestyle, and inaugural big air contests at Beijing 2022, a task that is virtually impossible for athletes from the United States of America who are routed through challenging qualifying schedules to earn a chance to compete in even one Olympic discipline. Since many of the world’s top freeskiers are from the United States of America, they can take only four men for each slopestyle and halfpipe team to Beijing, with slopestyle skiers serving double-duty for the debut of skiing’s Olympic big air. The depth of the Team USA field meant it’s unlikely - if not impossible - that he would qualify for all three disciplines on the U.S. Ski Team.

The U.S. qualifying is “very dog-eat-dog and insane,” and qualifying for Team GB is less competitive. The country sent two men to ski slopestyle at PyeongChang 2018, including 2018 world champion James Woods, and three to ski in Olympic halfpipe. So there was room for him to fit on the Great Britain team without battling against his friends. (coloradosun.com, 19 Dec 2019)

LA LIFE
In 2018, after fielding inbound requests for hosting gigs and acting offers from Hollywood (made a splash in the ninth season of American Horror Story), he decided to make the move to Los Angeles, California, USA. (espn.com)

ACTING AMBITIONS
It's also his dream to play a superhero. "When I was a kid, I was obsessed with them. I related to them so well because, let's be honest, a superhero basically lives his or her life in the closet....When I'm an actor, I'm going to do all of my own stunts." to which his mother replied, "Ok, wear your helmet." (espn.com)

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Competed for the United States of America at two Olympic Winter Games, winning the inaugural Olympic ski slopestyle silver at Sochi 2014 when Team USA swept the podium, with Joss Christensen taking the gold and Nick Goepper the bronze. Made the final at PyeongChang 2018, finishing 12th, but gained so much more. “If you look at me, I’m bummed but I’m not sulking, I’m not crying. Being out at these Games has kind of meant the world to me, just getting to really be myself and be authentic. And I think landing a run in the final and getting on the podium obviously would have been icing on the cake, but even though it didn’t happen for me I still had a wonderful Olympic experience.” (nytimes.com, 18 Feb 2018)

2017 World Championships slopestyle silver medallist, plus three more top-10 finishes since his debut in 2013.

2010 Junior World Championships slopestyle silver medallist finishing behind his personal hero gold medallist Bobby Brown (USA).