Gus Kenworthy in the new film by Samsung (Photo: Samsung/YouTube.com)
One of the most high-profile gay athletes at this year’s Winter Olympics is Gus Kenworthy.
The freestyle skier earned a silver medal at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and came out as gay in 2015.
Following his success in Sochi, his hometown of Telluride, Colorado, threw him a welcome home party. In a new short film exploring his roots, he says he was incredibly moved by the support he received at the time, but feared that if he came out, people’s reaction would have been different.
Fortunately, when he did come out, it only elevated his profile further and has not harmed his career in any way. He successfully earned himself a place in the 2018 USA Olympic squad, and has high-profile sponsors in the form of Head & Shoulders, Ralph Lauren and Samsung.
The latter is producing three films looking at Kenworthy’s life and career. The first appeared yesterday, and it explores his hometown and roots.
Kenworthy launched the video with an Instagram posting that showed him in 2014 and today.
Gus Kenworthy posted ‘then’ and ‘now’ photos to illustrate his journey in the last four years (Photo: @guskenworthy | Instagram)
The accompanying, lighthearted comment said: ‘My life has changed a lot in the four years since the last Winter Olympics. One of the biggest changes (besides hitting puberty, apparently) was coming out. My friends at @samsungmobileusa documented my road to Pyeongchang and I think they did a really great job telling my story.’
Watch the video below.
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In separate Kenworthy news, he told Elite Daily more about his training regime for the games. What’s his go-to song to get his adrenalin flowing before a ski run? Gimme More by Britney Spears!
Kenworthy is due to compete in the freestyle skiing in Pyeongchang this weekend.
See also
Meet the LGBTI athletes competing at the Winter Olympics 2018
