Gus Kenworthy signed off on his Olympic career with an “Openly British” message as he finished eighth in the ski halfpipe.
Saturday’s final capped a remarkable run for the 30-year-old, who fell twice as New Zealand's Nico Porteous won the gold.
But Kenworthy caught the eye with his message, revealed on a T-shirt after his last attempt.
He came out in 2015, the year after he won silver in Sochi — an Olympics where he captured headlines, and imaginations, by bringing stray dogs home from the mountain.
“This sport and the Olympics and competing on a professional level has changed my life in ways I could have never imagined," said Kenworthy. “I'm gay. I felt like I didn't fit in, in sport.
“To be out and proud, competing at the Olympics, and all of the opportunities that have come my way since the Olympics, I couldn't be more thankful. I know there's an expiration date and I'm at that date."
Kenworthy's career includes the Olympic medal — the slopestyle silver from Sochi.
An even more iconic moment came four years later in Pyeongchang when he kissed his then-boyfriend at the bottom of the hill. That kiss was caught by TV cameras and turned into a worldwide sensation.
Kenworthy said he was grateful for the moment, because maybe it would make things easier for gay men coming up in sports in the future.
He wanted to make an Olympic curtain call in 2022. The most straightforward path was to compete for his mother's home country.
“I'm not everybody's cup of tea,” Kenworthy joked. “I'm out and proud and gay and loud. I think that a lot of athletes really want to kind of feather the line of every different angle and sort of be able to appeal to the masses. I've already kind of accepted that that's not what I'm going to do. So I'm just going to speak my truth.
“I wish I could have done a little more. But overall, I'm still feeling very grateful and proud of the career that I've had.”
Bobsleigh off to a promising start
Brad Hall put himself in medal contention with the opening two runs of the four-man bobsleigh event.
The Team GB quartet are sixth after Saturday’s first half of the competition, having crashed on their final two-man run. A 0.69-second gap separates them from leaders Germany.
“Sixth overnight is a drastic improvement on 2018, we're pretty happy,” Greg Cackett told BBC Sport. “But we're not stopping until the fourth heat ends so fingers crossed.”
Winter Olympics medal table
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1 |
Norway |
15 |
8 |
12 |
35 |
2 |
Germany |
10 |
7 |
5 |
22 |
3 |
USA |
8 |
9 |
6 |
23 |
=4 |
Netherlands |
8 |
5 |
4 |
17 |
=4 |
Sweden |
8 |
5 |
4 |
17 |
6 |
China |
8 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
7 |
Switzerland |
7 |
2 |
5 |
14 |
8 |
ROC |
6 |
10 |
13 |
29 |
9 |
Austria |
6 |
7 |
4 |
17 |
10 |
France |
5 |
7 |
2 |
14 |
24 |
Great Britain |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Table correct as of 10.20am GMT on 19/02/2022.
