Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy suffered a setback during training Wednesday when he broke his thumb. While Kenworthy stated Thursday he intends to compete despite the injury, he did manage to sneak in a potshot at Vice President Mike Pence while tweeting an update on his status.
Kenworthy tweeted the hand injury comes with a “silver lining” as he won’t be able to shake Pence’s hand should the opportunity arise.
Broke my thumb yesterday in practice. It won't stop me from competing (obvi) but it does prevent me from shaking Pence's hand so… Silver linings! Will be giving my teammates (and literally everyone else) an enthusiastic "thumbs up!" of encouragement the rest of the trip. pic.twitter.com/XylPPGAq9P
— Gus Kenworthy (@guskenworthy) February 15, 2018
Kenworthy, 26, is one of only a handful of athletes representing the United States in the Winter Olympics who is openly gay, having come out in ESPN The Magazine in 2015. The notion that Pence, given his views on LGBT issues, served as leader of the U.S. delegation to South Korea, doesn’t sit well with Kenworthy.
“To have someone leading the delegation that’s directly attacked the LGBT community… it just seems like a bad fit,” Kenworthy said previously on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” via Yahoo News, by way of the New York Post. “I feel like the Olympics is all about inclusion and people coming together, and it seems like it’s not really doing that.”
Kenworthy’s tweeted barb at Pence has not been the only time since the Olympics began last week. Kenworthy joined figure skater Adam Rippon, another openly gay athlete, in an Instagram post following Opening Ceremonies in which Kenworthy writes he is “so proud to be representing the LGBTQ community alongside this amazing guy!”
Kenworthy and Rippon, along with skier Lindsey Vonn, have stated they would not attend a White House ceremony should President Donald Trump extend an invitation. Vonn recently detailed the backlash she received for making her statement.