Gus Kenworthy, a freestyle skier who will compete for Team GB at the 2026 Winter Olympics after defecting from Team USA, urinated a political message in the snow.
In a post to his 1.2M Instagram followers, Kenworthy — who has forayed into acting with roles in American Horror Story and 80 for Brady — shared a picture with the words, “F*** ice,” in a yellow scrawl in the snow. He later admitted it was urine.
In a message accompanying the post, Kenworthy wrote: “You can call your senator … to speak up against ICE and put pressure on them during the current DHS funding negotiations.”
Kenworthy, 34, later added: “My last post was pee so it only felt appropriate to follow it up with a lil’ dump… of photos from January. Yes, I’m a child.”
The athlete’s comments were pointed, given that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are expected to attend the Milan-Cortina Olympics with Vice President JD Vance in town for the opening ceremony on Friday.
Kenworthy will not be censured for breaking rules that prohibit athletes from making political remarks because he posted his views on social media. An International Olympic Committee told The Guardian: “During the Olympic Games, all participants have the opportunity to express their views as per the Athlete Expression Guidelines. The IOC does not regulate personal social media posts.”
Milan-Cortina is Kenworthy’s fourth Olympics. Born in Britain to an American father, Kenworthy moved to Telluride, Colorado, when he was young. He won slopestyle silver at Sochi 2014 and represented Team USA at Pyeongchang 2018. He switched to Team GB for Beijing 2022.
Kenworthy was one of the first extreme sports stars to come out as gay and counts Ryan Reynolds among his Instagram followers. Kenworthy recently said he was “so moved” by Heated Rivalry‘s depiction of closeted queer athletes.
