Gus Kenworthy Faces Death Threats Over ICE Post
Team GB's Gus Kenworthy has stated he believes he is "on the right side" after receiving death threats following a graphic social media post criticizing the United States' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The freestyle skier shared an image on Instagram that included an expletive preceding the acronym 'ICE' just one week before competing at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
In January, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and Minnesota resident Renee Good, 37, were both fatally shot by ICE agents in the city, an incident that sparked widespread protests across the United States.
Discussing the threats with , Kenworthy said:
"It was tough. No-one wants to read bad things about themselves, things that are threats and violent and scary and homophobic.
"I also took it with a grain of salt. I couldn't imagine writing something like that about someone, especially on a public forum, anyone who does that has something wrong with them.
"I think I'm on the right side."
Kenworthy, 34, was born in Chelmsford but raised in the US. He won a silver medal in ski slopestyle at the Sochi 2014 Games before switching allegiance to Team GB in 2019.
He qualified ninth for the halfpipe final scheduled for 18:30 GMT, achieving a score of 81.25 points.
US skier Hunter Hess qualified fifth and made an 'L' sign on his forehead after his first run, responding to US President Donald Trump's comment calling him "a real loser."
Prior to the Games, Hess stated:
"Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the US."
After Friday's qualifiers, he told reporters:
"I worked so hard to be here. I sacrificed my entire life to make this moment happen.
"I'm not going to let controversy like that get in my way. I love the United States of America. I cannot say that enough."
Earlier in February, President Trump's border enforcement official Tom Homan announced the end of the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
Homan stated that Operation Metro Surge had resulted in the detention of many undocumented immigrants with violent criminal records for deportation. However, the operation also triggered nationwide protests following the deaths of US citizens Good and Pretti at the hands of immigration officers.
According to Homan, over 4,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested. He added that ICE has maintained a presence in Minnesota and intends to continue doing so.
Kenworthy's Comeback and Self-Funding Journey
Kenworthy retired after competing in the 2022 Beijing Olympics but announced a comeback last year. Due to the allocation of GB Snowsport's athlete funding, he has had to finance his participation independently.
The five-time World Championship medallist explained:
"I called it quits partly because I'd been doing it a long time and I had burnout and was over it, but I was also having some bad head injuries and so it made it easier to walk away."
"Months after, when those symptoms started to subside and I started to feel myself again, I started wondering it wasn't the way I wanted it to finish.
"I kept pushing that feeling away, and finally I was at a point where I was like 'ok, well if you're having that feeling, it's now or never, and I didn't want to live to regret it and wonder what if.
"I decided to just give it a push and make it go, and try and get there. It's been pretty tough, because I didn't have any funding, I wasn't on any national team in order to get assistance, so it's been totally self-funded, myself, my coach, both of our travel, training camps, lift tickets, insurance, all of it, food, lodgings.
"I struggled deciding if it was the right thing to do, but ultimately, money comes and goes, this opportunity won't."
Additional Information
For those following the Winter Olympics, a day-by-day guide including medal event times is available. The Winter Olympics 2026 medal table is also accessible.
Viewers in the UK can watch two live streams and highlights on BBC , with updates on BBC Radio 5 Live and live text commentary plus video highlights on the website and app.
