mardi 13 mars 2018
Didn't Like Gus Kenworthy's Kiss at the Olympics? He Says "Deal With It"
Image Source: Getty / Rich Fury
When it comes to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, things didn't quite go as planned for skier Gus Kenworthy. The Olympian had a rough go of it in the days leading up to the competition. In addition to breaking his thumb, he also suffered a nasty hematoma in his hip that required medical draining. Kenworthy didn't end up medaling, but he made history in a different and exceptional way: by kissing his boyfriend, actor and personality Matthew Wilkas, on television for all the world to see.
Now that a bit more time has passed, the true impact of this moment is really starting to hit Kenworthy. On March 10, I spoke to the Olympic skier at the Human Rights Campaign's annual gala dinner. Caught up in the whirlwind and the high pressure of the Olympics, he hadn't quite had time to reflect on the moment. And that's due in large part to the fact that it all happened so fast.
"I had a hard time, because I had interviews right after my event, and I actually didn't perform that well. And they were like, 'Tell us about the kiss!' And I was like, 'I don't even know what kiss you're talking about,'" Kenworthy told me. "It was hard for me to kind of put in perspective what had just happened, because it felt so insignificant in the moment. It was just a very normal thing, like a kiss good luck. And we didn't know it was being filmed. So it was all news to me afterward."
"It's life. And it's on the screen. Deal with it or don't leave your house."
Now that the Olympics are over and he's back in the United States, Kenworthy has been able to get a bit more perspective on the incredible moment and its lasting impact. "I think it's so important . . . because we're gay and it's two guys. It's become this whole thing and people are like, 'Wait. We don't need to see this. This isn't why we're tuning into the Olympics.' And it's like, 'Yeah, well, it's life. And it's on the screen. Deal with it or don't leave your house.'" But this one kiss is about more than owning your identity, and it's clear now that Kenworthy can see the implications.
"The Olympics is an international event," he told me. "It's not the US seeing it; it's the world stage. It's broadcast on TV sets in countries where homosexuality is illegal. So I think it's incredible. It's so important to have visibility and representation, whether that's athletes competing or people being out and proud or a gay kiss on TV. I think it's all important. It's all amazing."
Image Source: Getty / Paul Archuleta
At this point, it's clear Gus and Matthew's kiss is a big deal. The subsequent media storm is enough to prove that much. "On the broadcast, they just scanned over, and they were like 'Oh, it's Gus's boyfriend.' I watched it after, and I was like, 'That's cool that they didn't make a huge fuss about it.' The internet did, which was great, but like, I think it was kind of cool that they normalized it."
With the Olympics, I asked the obvious question: what's next? Kenworthy said he was taking a small break from skiing; he won't train again until Fall, and he won't compete until next year. Based on what he told me, though, he wants to bounce back from his struggles at the Olympics. So what does he want out of the year? "Redemption. I was favored to medal in Korea, and I fell two days before my event," he recounted. "It was just not a great showing, and it's OK. It's one event, we have other ones all year round, and I actually had a good season in spite of it. I think moving forward, it would be nice to get back on the podium."
To me, it was clear that Kenworthy was still a bit bummed out by everything that had gone down in Pyeongchang. And though he already has Olympic medals and he doesn't have anything to prove, I still wondered how he bounces back after going through that kind of disappointment. "I feel lucky, because I had my family in Korea. My boyfriend, we had friends, my brothers, my mom, my dad," he said. "I think that I needed them there that day more than ever, because I didn't do well. It wasn't a celebration, and I needed them there to pick me up. I went straight to my family after the interviews, which you have to do after the contest, and I just saw my family. They gave me a big hug, and my mom was like, 'We couldn't have been more proud of you.' And I just started crying."
Sometimes, I guess the best thing to have is just a support system and a good cry. And hey, there's always 2022.
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