Congratulations are in order for Gus Kenworthy, who officially clinched a spot on the U.S. Olympic team on Sunday!
It is a historic win for the LGBTQ community, as Gus is officially the first openly gay man to compete in an action sports event at the Winter Olympics for the first time in history.
Although it may have been a foregone conclusion that he would make it, Gus solidified his chances on Sunday with a second-place finish in the Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Finals at Mammoth Mountain in California. This comes a week after him winning first place last week at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen Snowmass, Colorado, which was one of the qualifying events.
He won the silver medal back in 2014 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, but was not out of the closet at that point. He came out a year later in 2015 in an interview with ESPN the Magazine.
Gus isn't the only LGBTQ person to compete in this year's Olympics. Figure skater Adam Rippon has also been guaranteed a spot on the U.S. Olympics team and will be competing next month. Both of them are currently the only two out players from the states to compete. Gay Canadian figure skater Eric Radford and bisexual Dutch speed skater Ireen Wust have also made their nations' teams.
Congrats to Gus on this epic moment!