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British freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy says he has received death threats in the wake of a social media post that targeted ICE, the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency, last week.
Kenworthy, who was born in Chelmsford but has lived in the US for most of his life, posted an image on his Instagram account that showed the words “fuck ICE”, apparently urinated in the snow.
The 34-year-old posted a video late on Sunday in which he said: “The other day I posted a photo with my thoughts on ICE and that photo has since gone everywhere – and I’ve gotten a ton of messages and most of them honestly have been supportive and encouraging.
“But a lot of the messages have been awful, people telling me to kill myself, threatening me, wishing they’ll get to see me blow my knee or break my neck during my event, calling me slurs … it’s insane.”
Kenworthy won a silver medal in ski slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi whilst representing the US, before switching to represent Great Britain 2019. He will compete in the men’s snowboard halfpipe competition in Livigno from 19 February. Kenworthy also paid tribute to a number of current team members, including fellow freestyle skier Hunter Hess and skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin, who have spoken publicly about their unease about representing the US under the current administration.
Hess, who admitted that representing the US was “a little hard”, triggered a furious response from US president Donald Trump, who used his Truth Social account to describe Hess as “a real loser”. The US figure skater Amber Glenn also said she would be taking a break from social media after receiving “a scary amount of hate/threats” after her own comments in relation to her comments in support of the LGBTQ community in the US.
Kenworthy added: “Maybe this video is just going to invite more hate and vitriol but I think it’s important to say what we feel and stand up for what we believe in and stand up to injustice. I think sometimes people forget that you can love the US and be proud to be an American – I am – and still think they can be better and just because you love the US doesn’t mean you stand with this administration.”
The British Olympic Association has been contacted for comment.
