Gus Kenworthy shares historic kiss with boyfriend at Winter Olympics on live TV
The freestyle skier is breaking down barriers at the Winter Olympics
Gus Kenworthy made history after sharing a kiss with his boyfriend at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The freestyle skier kissed boyfriend Matthew Wilkas at Pyeongyang shortly before competing in a slopestyle event, the Guardian reports.
The kiss was caught on camera by NBC in footage that was broadcasted in the US and around the world. An NBC reporter also referred to Wilkas as Kenworthy’s boyfriend before showing supporters waving Rainbow flags.
It sparked a flood of celebration on Twitter from users praising Kenworthy, one of the first openly gay athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics, for breaking down barriers.
Speaking after the event, the 26-year-old said: “I didn’t even know that that was a televised moment at all, but I think that’s amazing.”
“That’s something that I wanted at the last Olympics was to share a kiss with my boyfriend at the bottom and it was something that I was too scared to do for myself. And so to be able to do that, to give him a kiss, to have that affection broadcasted for the world is incredible.”
He then revealed how he hopes to change perceptions through representation: “I definitely didn’t see a gay athlete at the Olympics kissing their boyfriend and I think that if I had it would have made it a lot easier for me, so hopefully it did that for other people.”
In a tweet before the kiss, Kenworthy called Wilkas his “Seoul mate” alongside a snap of them holding hands.
He wrote: “My Seoul mate! So happy to have my bf, my family and some amazing friends here in Korea to cheer me on! Tomorrow’s the big day (tonight for y’all in the US) and win or lose I just wanna thank you all SO much for your support and encouragement. I wouldn’t be here without you.”
Kenworthy, who came out in 2015 after the Sochi Winter Olympics, is one of the openly gay Olympians competing at this year’s Winter Games, including Adam Rippon who won a team bronze medal in figure skating.
The pair have formed a close friendship over the last week and have repeatedly spoken out against homophobic vice president Mike Pence.