Gus Kenworthy is one of the first openly gay athletes in extreme sport, intersecting masculinity and athleticism with the LGBTQ+ community. He discusses it all with FanSided.
In the world of action or extreme sports like skateboarding, snowboarding and skiing, there is an underlying structure of masculinity and machoism. For British-American Olympic skier, Gus Kenworthy, he looked to break that structure and live in his truth while inspiring others. For years, Kenworthy lived his life to the fullest, but not living his life fully.
Kenworthy is gay and had been closeted up until the close of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Even though he just won a medal, he didn’t feel like he was his authentic self. “I should’ve been on cloud nine, and I was actually in a really dark place. It wasn’t me, I wasn’t being myself,” said Kenworthy. For many athletes and regular people in day-to-day life who are closeted, this is the norm.
For him, this was the chance to come out and make a statement that weighed on his heart for years. It weighed so much so that the risk of losing everything meant nothing, it was being himself that mattered much more.
Extreme sports are dominated by masculinity and the macho man mentality, but it didn’t stop Kenworthy from speaking up
Kenworthy is all too familiar with the landscape that exists in the space of extreme sports and its hegemonic masculinity. There’s no place for crying, no place for weakness and though it may not be explicitly stated, to be gay may not be as openly accepted in the space. But due to the fact that extreme sports connect to the youth, some as young as 12-years of age, the thought process will always be more forward-thinking than most traditional sports.
While the pain of being closeted at the peak of his career was a tipping point for the skier, the thought that someone out there was going through the same struggle also flickered through his mind. “The thing that ultimately made me decide to (come out) was like that fact that there’s gotta be people like me that are gay and haven’t told anyone and aren’t out,” said Kenworthy.
Gus Kenworthy’s first step made for a trail for other athletes to follow his lead
He reached many more… Just four years after Kenworthy came out, Outsports reported a record number of 15 out LGBTQ+ athletes. This year in the Summer Olympics, we’ve seen the first trans woman, Laurel Hubbard participate as an Olympian this year as reported by CNN. It’s the courage of people like Gus Kenworthy who perform on the biggest stage to give the courage to others to live on their own big stage.
While his reach has made leaps and bounds, his career as an athlete looks to come to a close quite soon. He has said 2022 is it for him, but with that comes the plentiful partnerships and opportunities he’s made with sponsors, partners and more. The same opportunities that he never thought he’d see had he came out.
His fear became his greatest strength, providing deals for the very thing that he thought would take deals away from him. “To see the manifestation happen in the exact opposite where all of these brands are willing to work with me, uplift my story and reach athletes in the LGBTQ community has been wonderful,” said Kenworthy.
One of his longest partners, Procter & Gamble are working towards helping athletes at all levels reach their full potential while being their authentic selves with their Athletes for Good Fund. Nastia Liukin and Gus are partnering with Procter & Gamble and will be hosting a panel discussion with inspiring Olympians who were recipients of P&G’s Athletes for Good Fund grants.
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