15 Facts About The Gorgeous Gus Kenworthy That Melted Our Hearts

Olympian Gus Kenworthy snagged a silver medal in the 2014 Sochi Games for freestyle skiing, and then he stole America's heart, paving the way for youth around the world to embrace who they truly are.

He's one of the first openly gay Winter Olympic Athletes competing for the U.S., and he's showing no signs of slowing down in his sport or in his equal rights activism. The 26-year-old Coloradan is on track to be not only a legend on skis, with a myriad of accolades but also a force in the fight against discrimination based on gender and personal orientation, especially in the sports industry.

Gus has made it his mission to be the role model athlete he would've loved to have growing up when he was still confused and ashamed of his personal relationship preference.

You've probably seen him on commercials, flashing his pearly white smile and selling some product or message that you were too distracted by him to care about. Or you've seen him on social media, living his best life and taking his millions of followers along for the ride. Either way, you know about Gus's good looks. But do you know about his charm?

Scroll through to see 15 things the Olympian did that made us say, “Gus! Your heart is showing!”

15 He Proved He's A Mama's Boy

There's just something about guys who love their mothers, and Gus has that something.

In a YouTube video posted by them., a news organization that focuses on the LGBTQ+ community, the athlete opened up to his mom, Pip, about coming out to her at 24 years old, saying, “I think I was just scared I was going to disappoint you in some way, even though I knew you wouldn't really care.” To which his mother replied, “I kept thinking you were going to tell me… I was just waiting.”

Gus's mom already knew, of course - because mothers know everything. But she said she felt bad that her son hadn't told her sooner because she could have been there for him more.

Since Gus came out, his mother said she has noticed some positive differences in his demeanor.

“You seem much more self-confident, much happier, you've skied really well,” she said. “And it's wonderful, as a mother, to see her son confident and happy.”

Gus also made an appearance in Proctor & Gamble's Love Over Bias campaign earlier this year, in which the skier wore a shirt that read, “My mom loves this gay.”

And he takes every opportunity to make sure the world knows how supportive his mom is, telling her, “I feel so lucky that you're the mom I got. I couldn't be happier or have felt more love growing up. Thank you for everything you've done for me and given me.”

14 He's Not Shy About Fangirling Over Britney Spears

Gus has always been obsessed with Britney, he says, so when the pop star acknowledged his existence in a tweet, he admitted, “I just basically lost my mind.”

The skier joked that Britney's tweet, which she sent to wish him luck before his Olympic run, might have taken his head out of the game.

“I'm not blaming her for my bad ski performance, but also, like, I don't even know how I moved after I saw the tweet. My jaw was on the floor,” Gus said. “She's such a gay icon and a pop icon. It was amazing.”

Britney's tweet read, “So proud of #TeamUSA!! Hey @guskenworthy, gimme, gimme more on the slopes today!! #itsGusBitch”

The skier responded via Twitter, writing, “Oh. My. God. Was really not prepared to wake up to this. Not sure how I'm gonna ski today because I'm LITERALLY dead now, but I'm gonna go that extra mile for you, Britney! Ilysm!!!”

We could try to deny it, but the truth is, Britney is pretty much a generational icon for all 90s babies. We'll just have to live vicariously through Gus and Britney's twitter dialogue and keep jamming to “Baby One More Time.”

13 He Played Family Feud In Support Of LGBTQ+ Youth

In 2016, Gus played Family Feud for The Happy Hippie Foundation, a non-profit organization that rallies young people to fight injustices, like discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

The athlete explained, “When I came out to my family, they were completely loving and supportive. But unfortunately, that's not a reality for a lot of LGBT youth, and so when they tell their parents, a lot of kids end up on the streets. So the happy hippie foundation is for at-risk LGBT youth.”

Gus has been honored by various LGBTQ+ advocacy groups for living his truth in the sports industry, which has often been considered unwelcoming to certain groups of people - a stereotype that the skier is looking to change so those young athletes can feel comfortable being themselves.

“When I was a kid, my life would've been easier if I had someone that was in my position, that was out and gay and proud and successful in their sport,” he told CBS.

“But not having that, I think I realize the need for that and the importance of it, and so I want to be that person. I want to be a beacon of light for young kids in sports.”

12 He Loves Baby Animals, Of All Species

Name something cuter than a handsome guy who loves animals. It's definitely on the top of the list of cutest things in the world.

Gus is always sharing pictures of himself with random animals on social media, and his happiness during these animal encounters radiates through the photos.

Almost everyone can say they love kittens and puppies, but the animal-loving skier takes his animal-loving a step further. And he doesn't discriminate against species.

He has photos with raccoons, kangaroos, baby goats, cows, cats, dogs, fish - you name it! And he looks equally happy with all of them.

Gus couldn't hide his love for animals from the world and, during the Sochi Olympics, it was part of the reason he became so widely known in the U.S., aside from his silver-medal-winning ski run.

He found and rescued a group of stray dogs from the streets of the Russian city, and he brought them home in hopes of giving them a chance at having better lives.

11 He Helped Build Homes For Families In Need In Tijuana

Gus took to social media to express his gratitude toward Hope Sports for sending him to Tijuana.

Hope Sports is an organization that sends active and retired athletes to Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic to build houses for families.

Gus wrote on Instagram, “Rome wasn't built in a day, but this little house basically was… In two days, three houses were constructed for three families in need, and I couldn't be more stoked to have been a part of it!”

Gus explained that one of the women he built a home for lives off the equivalent of 65 US dollars per week. He said she works “insanely hard” in a factory six days a week, but still struggles to provide for her family.

According to Gus, the woman and her children were living in a dilapidated 6' by 10' shed before he and a group of 50 other athletes arrived to build them a home.

“I am just really grateful to have had the opportunity to help make her and her family's lives even a little bit better,” he wrote.

10 He Marched For Women's Rights

In January 2017, Gus participated in the Women's Rights March that overtook the country amid controversy surrounding women empowerment and equality.

The athlete posted a photo of himself and other marchers to Instagram with a caption that read, “Proud to stand amongst the millions of people across the country and around the world that marched today, in solidarity, to raise their voices in the name of equality, choice, and kindness. So proud of my little city of Denver for the 100,000+-person turnout! My heart was as full as it's ever been to witness the unanimity.”

But the skier's advocacy for women doesn't stop at equality. He also aims to raise breast cancer awareness by wearing pink during the month of October.

Gus's philanthropic nature transcends continents and species - taking him to Africa and Latin America to aid people in need, and then to parts of Asia, where he lent a helping hand to dogs facing inhumane treatment.

It's admirable how selfless Gus seems to be, and how willing he is to fight the injustices that many demographics are faced with, instead of only focusing on his own obstacles as a gay man in the sports industry.

9 He Spent Time With Refugees In Africa

In December 2016, Gus took a trip to the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda to film an Olympic documentary, in which he aimed to emphasize the importance of sports in all communities. The athlete met the people of the camp and found that most of those who lived there were children under eight years old.

While at the camp, Gus played with the children, high-fiving and going down slides, and he participated in the many sports that the young men and women of the camp do together, like basketball, running, gymnastics, weight-lifting.

“For me, being able to partake in all these different sports with all these refugees, and seeing their attitudes, and just being able to feel their spirit, it's kind of the spirit that the Olympics embodies,” Gus said. “It's that of inclusion and the whole world coming together for the love of sport.”

The people Gus met were eager to show him their sports, so he decided to show them videos of him skiing, and it made him realize, he said, that he's fortunate to even have the privilege to ski.

“I met a lot of really inspiring people, and my horizons have certainly been broadened. But it's hard. It's hard to see this,” he admitted. “There's not a light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of these people.”

8 He Made An Adorable Appearance On 'Sesame Street'

Before the Winter Olympics kicked off in February, Gus was busy making appearances in various ad campaigns for both the Games and his sponsors. One of the ads was a spot with Elmo on Sesame Street, and Gus seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

The athlete filmed a short “Happy New Year” video with Elmo, which was aired all over the country on NBC, and then he took to Instagram to give his fans a behind-the-scenes look at his appearance on the kids' show.

He posted the caption, “Childhood dreams coming true today in anticipation of the Winter Olympics!”

Gus' appearance with Elmo came not even a year after Sesame Street got a huge reaction from its Twitter followers for its Pride month celebratory photo. The photo featured puppets every shade of the rainbow lined up and smiling with the caption, “Sesame Street is proud to support families of all shapes, sizes, and colors.”

Many praised Sesame Street for its inclusive Twitter post, but there was still some backlash from viewers.

The company's use of Gus in its campaign, as well as its use of Gus' friend and Olympian Adam Rippon, who is also gay, proves it wasn't necessarily affected by the negative sentiments of some viewers.

7 He Was Born In England But Chose To Represent The U.S.

It's true: Gus' mother is British, and she has the accent to prove it. But she raised her three sons in the States.

According to The Elite Daily, Gus and his siblings, along with their mother and American-born father, moved to Colorado in 1993, when the now-professional skier was just two years old.

Gus chose to compete for the U.S. Olympic team, he says, because he felt like it would have been a cop-out to do otherwise. Winter sports are much more competitive in the States than they are in England.

The skier told USA Today, "I love the U.K. But I would never tell someone I'm British. I'm an American. I've been raised here… I just felt like it wasn't the right thing to do."

Gus continued, saying he felt confident in his decision at the time, even though he knew it would be a "way more difficult road to go down."

After their move in the '90s, Gus's family hit the slopes immediately and, as The Elite Daily put it, the athlete's parents had him on skis almost as soon as he could walk.

And then they started filming his tricks, posting videos online - turning him into a mini-celebrity and foreshadowing his successful career in skiing.

6 He Gushes Over His Adorable Niece

There's nothing cuter than watching a man as gorgeous as Gus giggle and fall in love with a baby girl. The skier introduced fans to his baby niece, Bobbie Belle Kenworthy, on Instagram with a photo of her bundled in his arms with the caption, “Christmas came early this year - I'm an uncle!!!”

Later he posted a photo to Facebook of his niece sleeping while his family watched him on TV skiing at the X Games.

The caption read, “My niece on the edge of her seat, almost unable to control her excitement while watching me in the X Games last week.”

But before his niece was even born, Gus posted a photo of him with a baby Nike shoe, saying, “My brother Hugh and sister-in-law Michelle are having a baby and I've literally been spending all of my time and budget ordering them baby stuff online. These mini sneakers are so [freaking] cuuuute!!!”

A few months ago, the athlete shared a photo of him reading Where The Wild Things Are to his adorable niece, as she looked glossy-eyed at the pictures. The innocence is just as real as the cuteness.

Oh - and not to mention, he calls himself her “hunkle” and, honestly, he's not wrong.

5 He Got Emotional Over The Loss Of His Childhood Best Friend

When Gus was 14 years old, his best friend, who he called Hoot, was killed in a ski accident in Telluride, Colorado, where Gus grew up. The athlete said he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue skiing after witnessing the tragic death of his friend, but instead, he decided he would keep skiing in Hoot's honor.

This February, the Olympian consulted celebrity medium, Tyler Henry, on E!'s show “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry,” and the meeting was emotional, to say the least.

The medium allowed Gus to communicate with his friend who passed away 12 years ago, and during the meeting, the skier said he felt guilty that he wasn't the one who died that day.

Gus attributed this feeling of guilt to his sensuality, which he hadn't told anybody about at that point, saying, “… I remember wishing and feeling like, had it been me that died, everyone would have just remembered me in this great way, and no one would ever have to know this secret that I thought was like a dark secret.”

But Gus said he felt relieved when his friend, through the medium, expressed feelings of pride toward him and all that he has accomplished in his life and his skiing career.

“I've wanted to hear some of those things for 12 years,” Gus said, as he wiped away tears.

4 He Shrugged Off Not Medaling In The 2018 Olympics

Gus won silver in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but he didn't end up on the podium in the 2018 Games.

As the Games came to a close, the skier took to Instagram to write in part, “… the Olympics aren't solely about the medals. Being here now, out and proud, and living my life authentically, I'm walking away more fulfilled without a medal than I did at the last Games with one.”

Aside from Britney Spears's tweet, Gus had a few other things come between him and a medal - like two injuries: a broken thumb and a hematoma on his hip. Both injuries occurred during practice for his then-upcoming Olympic run. And despite his injuries, he competed well enough to qualify - just not well enough to medal.

“Of course I would've loved to have landed my run and been on the podium, but it just wasn't my day,” Gus explained. “At every contest, there are three winners and a field of non-winners. This is the Olympics, though, and nobody here loses.”

3 He Unapologetically Came Out On The Cover Of ESPN's Magazine

In October 2015, Gus made the leap of a lifetime and decided to publicly come out as gay - on the cover of a magazine, no big deal.

At the time, though, the skier says, it was a really big deal. And he wasn't quite sure what would happen next, both in his career and his private life.

“I was scared I would lose friends and sponsors, a fan base,” Gus told them.

“I thought maybe I wouldn't get judged well at events anymore. I kind of just prepared myself for the worst.”

In the ESPN The Magazine spread, Gus said he knew he was gay as early as five years old. He felt different from the other boys, like his two older brothers, with whom he was always competing.

“I was insecure and ashamed,” Gus told ESPN. “Unless you're gay, being gay has never been looked at as being cool. And I wanted to be cool.”

But now that he's out and he no longer has anything to hide from the world, Gus says he feels like he can really be himself - and it's even affected his skiing in a positive way.

“I'm just more comfortable in my own skin [and] that directly correlates to me being able to ski better, ski more freely,” he said. “Once I had one less thing to worry about at contests, I was able to just focus more.”

2 He Saved Puppies From A Dog Meat Farm In Korea

Four years ago while in Sochi for the Olympics, Gus rescued and brought home a litter of stray puppies he found near the Olympic Village - two of the puppies went to his ex-boyfriend and one to his mom.

And in the 2018 Games, the skier took rescuing animals to another level, saving 90 puppies from one of South Korea's 17,000 dog meat farms.

After his visit to the dog meat farm, Gus wrote in an emotional Instagram post, “Across [South Korea], there are 2.5 million dogs being raised for food in some of the most disturbing conditions imaginable… The dogs here are malnourished and [hurting], crammed into tiny wire-floored pens, and exposed to the freezing winter elements and scorching summer conditions.”

The athlete continued, saying he is aware that eating dogs is part of Korean culture, but asserted, “culture should never be a scapegoat for cruelty.”

For Gus and his boyfriend, their visit to the farm was heart-wrenching, but for one lucky pup, it was the visit that saved her life when the pair decided to adopt her.

They named her Beemo, and she now has her own Instagram page with more than 100 thousand followers, where she can show off her cuteness and maybe help other dogs who need loving homes.

1 He Kissed His Boyfriend On International Television During The PyeongChang Olympics

Before his qualifying run at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, Gus gave his boyfriend, Matt Wilkas, an innocent kiss that ended up being seen around the world.

Gus said he thought it was “wild” that the kiss went so viral because “it was like the most innocent moment, and if you actually watch the video of it, it was the quickest kiss ever.”

The skier posted a photo of the kiss on his Instagram with the caption:

“Didn't realize this moment was being filmed, but I'm so happy that it was. My childhood self would have never dreamed of seeing a gay kiss on TV at the Olympics, but for the first time ever a kid watching at home CAN! Love is love is love.”

Gus's boyfriend, Matt, told TIME he was also happy that the kiss was broadcasted because it normalizes the LGBTG+ community.

“I would imagine it would be a huge moment for a young gay kid to see an awesome athlete so open and proud of himself and not caring what anyone thinks of his [sensuality],” the skier's boyfriend said.

Gus later joked on an MTV News YouTube video that if he had known he was being filmed, he “probably would have made it a better kiss.”

References: elitedaily.com, espn.com, Olympics YouTube, time.com, nbc.com, eonline.com, MTV News YouTube, them., instagram.com, twitter.com, cbs.com