Olympic freeskier Gus Kenworthy, who won a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympics, is eyeing a return to the sport and hopes to compete in his fourth straight Winter Olympics in February 2026.
In an exclusive interview with ESPN, Kenworthy explained his decision to come out of retirement, saying, “After taking a step away, I realized I miss skiing and I really want to compete again. I didn’t know if I’d be able to come back after three-and-a-half years, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to after seven and a half. So, it’s this Olympics or nothing. I’m never going to have this opportunity again.”
Kenworthy, who was born in Great Britain and moved to Colorado as a child, will represent Team GB once again. He previously competed for Team USA in slopestyle at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where he helped secure a historic third U.S. podium sweep. Kenworthy also competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, making history as one of the first openly gay men to represent the U.S. at the Winter Games.
In 2019, Kenworthy switched his allegiance to Team GB and began focusing on halfpipe skiing. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, he placed eighth in the halfpipe before announcing his retirement from professional skiing.
“I walked away with my head held high,” Kenworthy said of his decision to retire after the Beijing Games. “But it wasn’t what I wanted. It was hard to walk away on a sour note.”
After his retirement, Kenworthy turned his focus to acting, modeling, and philanthropy. However, skiing remained a constant pull in the back of his mind. “I would be out at a party and someone would ask, ‘What do you do now?’ And saying anything other than, ‘I’m a professional skier,’ felt wrong,” Kenworthy explained. “It was weird to navigate. I felt depressed at times. I felt a loss of my sense of identity.”
Kenworthy’s return to the sport became a serious consideration last summer. Despite concerns over potential injuries, including two significant concussions prior to the Beijing Games, Kenworthy was eager to get back into the halfpipe. He had also dealt with lingering symptoms of COVID-19, including nausea and vertigo, which affected his training and Olympic experience.
“We couldn’t get to the bottom of it,” Kenworthy recalled. “I was skiing well, and then my training basically stopped.”
Though the symptoms eventually subsided over a year, Kenworthy’s fear of head injuries remains. “It’s still my biggest fear,” he admitted. “I’m scared, but it’s like any risk. You can’t dwell on it. You do what you can to mitigate the risks and perform as safely as possible.”
Kenworthy’s decision to return is driven not by a need to redefine himself, but by his genuine desire to ski again. “I don’t feel like I’m going back into it because I don’t know who I am otherwise,” he said. “I’m going back into it because I can still do it, and because I want to.”
In recent months, Kenworthy informed his management team that he would be taking a break from acting to focus entirely on skiing. He also reached out to Team GB’s head coach, who expressed both support and a realistic perspective on his return to competitive skiing.