Gus Kenworthy

“When you're able to be honest with yourself about who you are and finally can present your authentic true self to the world, you feel so much better about yourself, and it makes it easier for everyone else to feel better about you.”

“I'm not one of those people who can eat whatever I want and never go to the gym. I have to work hard for any results I see.”

“I'm representing the LGBT community, and I want to do well for them.”

“I definitely carry a little bit of a burden with me, being a gay athlete going to the Olympics. I think that there's pressure on me... It presents an amazing opportunity, and I think that it kind of gives us a chance to shed people's misconceptions and just kind of, like, break down barriers.”

“Dating in the closet is torture. It's one of the most difficult things, especially if you are completely closeted.”

“I'm actually sort of shocked that I was able to get a medal in 2014 and really have any of the success I had before because as soon as I came out, it was like a whole new world for me, and I felt so free, so confident, that it's actually shocking that I was able to compete any other way.”

“You don't want to be defined by one thing. But at the same point... When you are the first in something, that's gonna kinda be the title that sticks. And after Sochi, I was, like, the dog guy. Now I'm the gay guy, and it's fine by me.”

“When I was in the closet, I had so much pressure on my shoulders. When I came out, that was actually the first moment I felt relieved of those stresses. It really showed in my skiing.”

“You can be gay and be proud of that and not have to worry about being unsuccessful or unaccepted.”

“The chance of messing up and falling significantly increases when you're flipping through the air three times while spinning and trying to grab your skis.”

“When you're able to love and appreciate and take pride with yourself, that makes everything easier. It makes it easier to train, it makes it easier to be in the gym, and it makes it easier for everyone else to accept and love you.”

“I'm putting in the time to make sure that my body is ready to compete at the top level.”

“When we have people elected into office that believe in conversion therapy and are trying to strip trans rights in the military and do these things that are directly attacking the LGBT community, I have no patience.”

“I don't really have a specific Olympic crush. There were a couple of guys during the Olympics in Sochi that were super fit. And during the summer games, any of the sports where people have their shirts off if they're diving or swimming or whatever, it's like eye candy.”

“I don't think you necessarily have to be crazy-fit for freeskiing. So much of the sport has to do with agility and nimbleness and flexibility and other things. It's a lot of muscle memory - it's more like dance, in a way - it's technique more than strength or endurance.”

“Someone coming out as gay shouldn't be newsworthy; it shouldn't be warranting a magazine cover or anything like that, which I had as my story for coming out.”

“I'm not super superstitious, but if I listen to a song and then I do well, then that becomes my song for however long it works for.”

“I don't listen to music when I ski - I find it distracting - but I will sing to myself before I go to just get my mind out of what I'm doing and relax a little bit.”

“I look at photos of the Sochi Olympics - even though it sometimes seems like it was just yesterday - that photo doesn't even look like me. It looks like a child. I don't even recognize myself.”

“I think it's so important to have visibility and to break down stereotypes and stigmas and everything that people are so attached to.”