Winter Olympics 2018: This photo of Gus Kenworthy and his partner is making people feel so proud
(Instagram/guskenworthy and Twitter)
Gus Kenworthy is one of the first openly gay men to ever compete at the Winter Olympics.
For that reason, the Team USA freestyle skier’s ability to publicly celebrate his boyfriend Matthew Wilkas’s presence at the Games is historic – and people are feeling it.
Today, Kenworthy posted a photo on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook of him and his partner holding hands in front of the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.
The 26-year-old, who is getting ready for the Men’s Ski Slopestyle after breaking his thumb earlier this week, wrote: “My Seoul mate!
“He’s a little late for Valentine’s Day but he made it just in time to see me compete tomorrow (tonight for you guys in the states)!
“Feeling very lucky to have him, my family, my agent and some amazing friends here in Korea cheering me on.
(Instagram/guskenworthy)
“The past few days of practice have been pretty tough (I broke my thumb two days ago and yesterday got a massive hematoma on my hip that needed to be drained), but despite it all I’m still so excited to go out there and give it my all.
“Win or lose I’m gonna be walking away with my head held high! Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support, I wouldn’t be here without you! #TeamUSA ️ “.
People loved the fact that Kenworthy felt comfortable to post the cute picture.
On Instagram, one fan wrote: “Good for you. What a great looking couple. So glad that Pride can be felt at the Olympics.
“It has been a long haul and to be able to talk openly about incredible athletes who represent. Thank you and others for standing tall. Fingers crossed you can stand tall on the podium”.
(Twitter/curtispullin)
Another said: “You guys look great together. You’ve already won no matter what happens tomorrow.”
One person wrote: “The visibility you are bringing to your life in this moment is so groundbreaking.
“There are young kids watching an out Xtreme sports athlete not only comfortable being gay, but he’s also an celebrated Olympian.
(Twitter/NotoriousSDA)
“Thank you for sharing your life authentically. #LGBTPROUD #Olympics”.
And another said: “You and Adam [Rippon] (including Adams Twitter account lol) are national treasures and great role models.
“Glad the next generation have such amazing athletes to look up at, who kick ass and aren’t ashamed to be who they are. No matter what happens tomorrow, you won for the youth.”
(Twitter/hockey_law)
As well as openly and proudly showing off actor Wilkas, who starred in the 2012 film Gayby, Kenworthy has also talked about their relationship, including revealing how the pair met.
Speaking to Us Weekly, he said: “I sent him a message on Instagram.
“We’re great. We work through all of our issues, we talk, we have amazing communication. But it’s also like… it’s up and down.
(Instagram/guskenworthy)
“I spend so much of my time on the road and traveling. We’ll go eight weeks without seeing each other. It’s a difficult relationship, but we work on it.”
Kenworthy, who came out the year after winning a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, said he was in touch constantly with Wilkas.
“[We] FaceTime a lot, text, I send him photos of things I see throughout the day, funny things,” he said.
(Instagram/guskenworthy)
“When I was just doing the show that I was doing in Peru, we were completely out of contact for a month, so it was quite difficult.
“Coming back, we had so much to catch up on. But in a way, it was almost nice.”
LGBT Olympians have broken new ground in various ways during their stay in Pyeongchang.
(Getty)
We have already seen bisexual skater Ireen Wüst becoming the most successful speed skater in Olympic history.
The Dutch speed skater teared up after winning gold in the Women’s 1500m race – a record-breaking tenth Olympic medal.
(Getty)
Gay skater Adam Rippon also made history earlier this week, by taking a bronze medal after performing a solo skate to Coldplay’s O and Arrival of the Birds by Cinematic Orchestra.
His medal-winning performance came as Eric Radford became the first ever openly gay man to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
(Twitter/rad85e)
Kenworthy, like Rippon, has used his platform at the Games to attack Vice President Mike Pence’s anti-LGBT positions.
He has vowed to snub a White House reception for athletes, and even joked yesterday that his broken thumb would stop him from shaking hands with Pence.
