--- title: Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon Are Proud Olympic Friends description: Skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon shared a moment and a friendly kiss during the Opening Ceremony in PyeongChang. canonical: https://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-09T17:14:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:29.679Z og:title: Gus Kenworthy Gave Adam Rippon a Friendly Kiss on Instagram og:description: "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it." og:url: https://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1456ced6a61e075/698926ef0a4a2263519d1b55/gus-kenworthy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Gus Kenworthy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gus Kenworthy Gave Adam Rippon a Friendly Kiss on Instagram twitter:description: "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1456ced6a61e075/698926ef0a4a2263519d1b55/gus-kenworthy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # American Olympians Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon Make Powerful Statement With Photo of Friendly Kiss  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 9, 2018 5:14 PM UTC  Skier Gus Kenworthy speaks during the 100 Days Out PyeongChang Winter Olympics Celebration on Nov. 1, 2017 in New York City. Skier Gus Kenworthy speaks during the 100 Days Out PyeongChang Winter Olympics Celebration on Nov. 1, 2017 in New York City.Mike Stobe—USOC/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 9, 2018 5:14 PM UTC Olympic skier [Gus Kenworthy](http://time.com/5066113/gus-kenworthy-ready-to-embrace-role-2018-winter-olympics/) and figure skater [Adam Rippon](http://time.com/5134101/adam-rippon-winter-olympics-2018/) shared a moment at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday with a friendly kiss and powerful messages on social media. “We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it,” Kenworthy captioned a set of photos shared to Twitter, including the image of him planting a smooch on Rippon’s cheek. The two athletes, have already been captivating fans. A crowd favorite at Sochi in 2014, Kenworthy’s subsequent [public coming-out](http://time.com/4842875/gus-kenworthy-donald-trump-gay-olympics-espn/) story was a landmark moment in his sport, and [has criticized](https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/winter-olympics-2018-gay-skier-gus-kenworthy-criticizes-mike-pence-on-ellen/) Vice President Mike Pence. Rippon, meanwhile, has repeatedly [said he would not meet](http://time.com/5140566/adam-rippon-mike-pence-twitter-olympics/) with the Vice President on account of his stance on social issues. Together, they’re the first openly gay athletes to compete at the Winter Olympics. “Representing the USA is one of the greatest honors of my life,” Rippon noted on his own Instagram post of himself and Kenworthy, “and being able to do it as my authentic self makes it all so much sweeter.” Hopefully this is just the first of many friendship snaps of this vocal duo as [they document](http://time.com/5088951/winter-olympics-2018-instagram/) their time in PyeongChang. Kenworthy will begin competing in the freestyle skiing events [next week;](http://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule) the figure skating team qualifiers are already underway, with Rippon performing in the men’s individual events starting Tuesday. > [](https://twitter.com/guskenworthy/status/961989267911098368) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/"},"headline":"American Olympians Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon Make Powerful Statement With Photo of Friendly Kiss","datePublished":"2018-02-09T17:14:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:50:29.679Z","description":"Skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon shared a moment and a friendly kiss during the Opening Ceremony in PyeongChang.","url":"https://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Winter Olympics","2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1456ced6a61e075/698926ef0a4a2263519d1b55/gus-kenworthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1456ced6a61e075/698926ef0a4a2263519d1b55/gus-kenworthy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gus Kenworthy","caption":"100 Days Out Celebration","creditText":"Mike Stobe—USOC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/","name":"American Olympians Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon Make Powerful Statement With Photo of Friendly Kiss"}}]}] ```