Gus Kenworthy on legacy and retirement - "My dream role would be in a comedy. I think I'm funny. I would love to be in a Judd Apatow movie"

Gus Kenworthy is living proof that the Olympics are about much more than the medals.

As an openly gay athlete he has inspired people worldwide to be open about who they are, and leaves a huge legacy of progress in the sport of freestyle skiing too.

"Being an Olympian has honestly changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined," Kenworthy tells Olympics.com after officially retiring following the Beijing 2022 freeski final.

"They say, once an Olympian, always an Olympian... and that has opened more doors than I could have dreamed of as a kid.

"I've gotten to do so many incredible things and experienced so many things, just because of the fact that I am an Olympian and have an Olympic medal... and not just because of that, but it's obviously an accomplishment."

Some of the "incredible things" include hitting the headlines for adopting two stray dogs at Sochi, a Winter Olympic silver medal for Team USA, THAT famous kiss at PyeongChang 2018, representing his mother's homeland Great Britain at Beijing 2022, a budding career as an actor and TV presenter, and becoming an all-round pop-culture icon.

He's appeared in cult TV series 'American Horror Story', says he wants to go on acting, and already has a dream role in mind:

"I think my dream role would be in a comedy. I think I'm funny. I love Judd Apatow movies. I would love to be in a Judd Apatow movie."

"It's helped me transcend this sport," he continues on how the Olympics changed his life, "because free skiing is kind of a niche sport. And I feel like I've had success and I'm so, so grateful to the sport.

"Because of the Olympics, I've been able to move into this other world and do other things I would have never dreamed of, like hosting the Summer Games for NBC and I don't know, being in magazines and things.

"I grew up in a really small town, so I didn't ever see that for myself."

Gus Kenworthy: Icon

His legacy as an icon is secure. When he won silver at the PyeongChang 2018 Games and kissed his then-boyfriend Matthew Wilkas at the finish, the moment went viral on social media, and helped foster a greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ athletes in sport and beyond.

"For me, I feel fortunate to have had the role that I've had in breaking down barriers. There just hasn't been a ton of representation in action sports, there wasn't much or any.

"So I'm grateful that I got to be that representation, but I feel like anything I did was just sort of me being me, so it's like nice, and it feels like an accomplishment, but it's also sort of weird because I feel like I'm just kind of doing my thing.

"I'm proud of myself to have embraced myself wholly and shared that because I definitely didn't think I was going to have the courage to do that for a long, long time.

"I don't really know what's next or how to maintain that, I mean, I think I just want to continue to live my truth and try and be as authentic and genuine as I can.

Gus Kenworthy: "Be who you are"

"I would encourage everybody to try and live their truth, but it's sort of an easier said than done type of thing," Kenworthy continues to Olympics.com in China.

"And when it comes to living out and proud, if you're a queer person, it can be pretty scary.

"So I feel like I always want to preface it by saying that I don't want to encourage anybody to come out before they're ready, like it's such a personal experience and journey, and everyone should do it on their own time when they feel safe and when they're in an environment that's conducive for it.

"But for me, it was the single best thing I've ever done.

"For myself, it was so freeing and liberating. I feel like I competed better, I was happier, I became closer with my friends. I was able to actually be my, my true self.

"And I feel that sort of makes you lovable - by other people and by yourself. And it's just a great atmosphere. So I would encourage it for anybody. But obviously I get that people are on their own schedule."

"Sport has been my northern light, my guide for my life"

So now that he's stepping away from professional skiing, what will he miss?

"I think I'm going to miss competing tremendously, I mean, I'm very competitive, but also this has just been a huge chunk of my life.

"I mean, I've been skiing since I was three... For twenty seven years and I've been doing it professionally for 14 years, travelling the world with my friends and competing and dealing with the pressure and the injuries and all of that.

"So it's it's kind of surreal to think about the fact that I won't be doing that anymore. It's definitely bittersweet. I feel very proud of everything that I've accomplished.

"I've had a career that I've just enjoyed every minute of... actually, that's not true. Some of it has been not great, but I have really loved what I've gotten to do and I'm excited for the next chapter, but it's sort of sad to close the door too."

Gus Kenworthy: "I knew it was my last competition run ever..."

Kenworthy finished eighth in the men's freeski halfpipe on Saturday 19 February 2022, and after falling on runs one and two, he picked himself up and put down a final run, something he's proud of.

"I mean, today was honestly really frustrating," he says, hours after New Zealander Nico Porteous claimed gold ahead of David Wise and Alex Ferreira.

"We showed up and it was just insanely windy, not ideal conditions and it was also really, really cold and I think that everybody kind of had to adapt to the conditions.

"Everyone, maybe with the exception of Nico, changed their run and ended up scaling back on what they were going to do, myself included and the first run was going really well.

"Got a bad gust of wind going into my second to last hit and just had basically no speed, fell over.

"Second run, another bad gust of wind and I decked out really hard on the right side, down on a double cork and it hurt a lot.

"And then third run, I kind of knew that I had to dig deep and I hadn't put a run down yet, and I knew it was going to be my last competition run ever.

"So I really wanted to make sure that I just stayed on my feet and I was able to do that.

"I mean it wasn't the run that I was hoping to do, it wasn't the run that I was planning on doing, but I'm glad I made it through in one piece and the level was crazy considering how bad the conditions were.

"So I'm happy with it."

After battling Covid and concussion to reach Beijing, and edging through qualifying to get to that final, it's a fitting finish. So where does he go from here?

Anywhere he chooses, and he leaves us with the best piece of advice he ever got.

"The best piece of advice I was ever, given I always go back to this, but it's actually a quote from Dr. Seuss, but it's. 'be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter, don't mind."