Gus Kenworthy
Gus Kenworthy is a British-American Olympic silver medalist, freestyle skier, actor, model and mental health advocate.
Born in Chelmsford, England, Gus moved to the U.S. when he was two years old and began skiing shortly after in his hometown of Telluride, CO. At 16, Gus was discovered by the international skiing world when he posted a one-minute video of himself on the slopes of Telluride. The video received a lot of attention and sponsors came knocking; his professional career took off.
Kenworthy is known as one of the best all-around park skiers of all time and is one of the only athletes to have podium finishes across all three disciplines (slopestyle, halfpipe and big air) and was the first person to do many groundbreaking tricks in each.
In 2014, Kenworthy won a silver medal for Team USA at the inaugural slopestyle of the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. During those Games he gained international recognition after he saved three stray puppies and their mother from euthanization, drawing attention to the plight of rescue animals.
In 2015, Gus came out on the cover of ESPN Magazine and became the first openly gay professional athlete in any action sport.
At the 2018 Olympics, Kenworthy made history by becoming the first openly gay man (alongside Adam Rippon) to compete for the U.S. in a Winter Olympics. During those Games in Pyeongchang, Gus kissed his then boyfriend on live television, which was a significant moment for the visibility of LGBTQ+ athletes and sport communities alike.
Gus had dabbled in acting with cameos on The Real O’Neals, Will and Grace and Olympic Dreams but in 2019 he landed a series regular role on Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: 1984. He has also appeared on such shows as The Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Conan, Drop the Mic, Celebrity Family Feud, Hollywood Medium, GMA, The Today Show, Larry King, The Challenge and Coming Out Colton, well as been a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay. In January 2023, Kenworthy was a contestant on FOX’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. He also appeared alongside Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno and Sally Field in Paramount’s 80 for Brady.
He has appeared on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine, The Advocate, Attitude, Gay Times, Man of Metropolis, OUT, People, Purist, Vulkan magazines and has been featured in Architectural Digest, ESPN’s The Body Issue, GQ, Interview, Paper and Vogue.
Gus is an ambassador for Prada, Monster Energy, Smith Optics, Atomic Skis, Beam, CANN and MASTERS App. In 2022, Kenworthy started the Worthy Foundation, a 501c3, to give back to the LGBTQ+ community. No stranger to activism, Gus participated in the AIDS/LifeCycle ride, a 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2019, raising $249,745 for the organization. He works with the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ+ youth; Happy Hippie Foundation, aiding and focusing on homelessness and LGBTQ+ rights; GLSEN, working to ensure that LGBTQ+ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment; as well as The Humane Society International, working around the globe to promote the human-animal bond and confront cruelty in all its forms.
Kenworthy resides in Los Angeles, CA with his dog Birdie.
