Heavy snowfall over the Italian Alps meant that the men’s halfpipe freeski qualifying had to be postponed by a day. Although the competition itself could have been held, rescue helicopters were unable to land in Livigno in the prevailing conditions and the organizer chose to err on the side of caution before unsafe hazards arose at the difficult-to-access Olympic site.
Now both the qualification and the final will be decided on Friday.
For two of the drivers, the competition will be special in many ways. It’s about 27-year-old American Hunter Hess and 34-year-old Gus Kenworthy, who grew up and lives in the USA but has represented Great Britain, where he was born, since 2019.
Both have gained weight the anger of President Donald Trump and the American right through statements about how they see the political situation in the United States.
Hunter Hess, responding to a question at a press conference, said he has mixed feelings about representing the United States at this time.
“There’s a lot of things going on that I don’t appreciate and that I think a lot of people don’t like,” he said, perhaps primarily referring to the actions of ICE agents in Minneapolis.
At the same time, Gus Kenworthy posted an image on Instagram in which he appeared to write “Fuck Ice” while urinating in the snow, along with a call for American citizens to contact the senator representing them and express their displeasure with the situation.
Both events attracted a lot of attention. On his social media platform Truth, Donald Trump called Hunter Hess “a real loser.”
“It’s very hard to support someone like him,” the president continued, prompting many of his supporters to attack Hess online.
The skier received support from several people their Olympic colleagues. Among others, the American cross-country skiers Lauren Jortberg and Ben Ogden as well as the snowboarder Chloe Kim.
Hunter Hess responded with a post on social media in which he wrote that he loves his country and that there is a lot that is good about the United States, but also that there is a lot that can be improved.
“One of the things that makes the country great is that we have the right and the freedom to point it out,” he writes, among other things, thanking him for the support he has received.
Gus Kenworthy, who is too Actor and known from a season of the TV series American horror storysays in a new post that he’s received mostly nice messages from people, but he’s also received a lot of messages from people wishing him to kill himself or seriously hurt himself during the upcoming competition.
– Maybe this is the price you have to pay for saying what you think, and maybe this will only make the situation worse, says Kenworthy.
– I just want to remind everyone that you can love the USA and at the same time think that the country can be changed for the better. Just because you love America doesn’t mean you support this presidential administration.
In many ways, it was inevitable that there would be political strife for the United States at the Winter Olympics. A large part of the American squad has its origins and home in the state of Minnesota, which is the focus of ICE agents’ operations in the city of Minneapolis.
As far as competitive opportunities are concerned Hunter Hess has achieved multiple World Cup podiums this winter and is a medal candidate. Things could be more difficult for Gus Kenworthy, who certainly won silver in Sochi in 2014 when he was still competing for the USA, albeit in slopestyle at the time.
Whatever the case, both skaters have already made a real impression at these Games.
