--- title: Gus Kenworthy: Broken Thumb May 'Prevent' Mike Pence Meeting description: Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy, who broken his thumb in practice this week, said not shaking Vice President Pence's hand was a "silver lining" canonical: https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-16T02:43:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:58:48.708Z og:title: Gus Kenworthy Has a Great Excuse for Not Meeting Mike Pence og:description: His broken thumb would make a handshake impossible og:url: https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74e8b88c0d619c01/698927eabc6cfc0d553e50d0/gettyimages-916801572.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: Around the Games: Day 2 - Winter Olympic Games og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gus Kenworthy Has a Great Excuse for Not Meeting Mike Pence twitter:description: His broken thumb would make a handshake impossible twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74e8b88c0d619c01/698927eabc6cfc0d553e50d0/gettyimages-916801572.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gus Kenworthy Has a Great Excuse for Not Meeting Vice President Mike Pence > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=808ba559-bee6-4a3a-b246-6b64e8ac034b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Daily | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Richard Hall, Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The informed consumer. A scaled audience of readers who turn to TIME to stay informed and make sense of the world, with meaningful reach across education and research, nonprofits and civic life, media and communications, government and public institutions, and business and professional services. ### TIME The Brief: key statements * The Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * The Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=808ba559-bee6-4a3a-b246-6b64e8ac034b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/subscribe?i=808ba559-bee6-4a3a-b246-6b64e8ac034b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's daily news newsletter? The Brief is TIME's daily newsletter, edited by Richard Hall. It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=808ba559-bee6-4a3a-b246-6b64e8ac034b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Gus Kenworthy Is The First Openly Gay Winter Olympian [Watch (HLS stream): Gus Kenworthy Is The First Openly Gay Winter Olympian](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FsbJtgRH.m3u8) (4:13)  _Published 2017-12-15. Gus Kenworthy heads to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, thrilled to represent the LGBT community as the first openly gay Winter Olympic athlete._ by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Feb 16, 2018 2:43 AM UTC Gus Kenworthy heads to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, thrilled to represent the LGBT community as the first openly gay Winter Olympic athlete. by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Feb 16, 2018 2:43 AM UTC American freestyle skier [Gus Kenworthy](http://time.com/5066113/gus-kenworthy-ready-to-embrace-role-2018-winter-olympics/) won’t let a broken thumb get in the way of his Olympic dreams, but it could make it difficult for him to shake hands with Vice President Mike Pence. Kenworthy, the defending slopestyle [silver medalist](http://time.com/7590/sochi-winter-olympics-2014-skiing-slopestyle/) from the 2014 Sochi Games, fractured the digit during practice Thursday, tweeting out a photo of the X-ray and assuring fans that the accident won’t keep him from competing in the Men’s Slopestyle competition on Sunday. But Kenworthy said that injury could “prevent me from shaking Pence’s hand,” making him the second openly gay athlete to dodge a meeting with the veep. > [](https://twitter.com/guskenworthy/status/964280995527606273) “Silver linings!” an upbeat Kenworthy tweeted, adding that he would be giving the other athletes from Team USA “an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up!’ of encouragement.” Adam Rippon, 28, another openly gay Olympian who [helped Team USA](http://time.com/5143981/mirai-nagasu-olympic-team-figure-skating/) win the team figure skating bronze last week, reportedly declined a meeting with Pence and called him out for his history of opposition to gay rights. “If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren’t a friend of a gay person but that they think that they’re sick. I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that,” [Rippon told](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/brennan/2018/02/07/2018-winter-olympics-vice-president-mike-pence-adam-rippon-south-korea-gay-rights/314167002/) _USA Today_. > [](https://twitter.com/Adaripp/status/954744703399768065) Kenworthy and Rippon also [made a powerful statement](http://time.com/5141750/gus-kenworthy-adam-rippon-kiss/) on social media ahead of the opening ceremony with a shared kiss, captioned “We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it.” While Kenworthy’s injury won’t stop him from hitting the slopes on Sunday, he may have to [ski without poles](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/winter-olympics-2018/2018/02/15/gus-kenworthy-breaks-thumb-but-he-ski/343658002/) and it could affect tricks that involve grabbing his skis, a key part of his overall style score, _USA Today_ reports. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] When I was 14, one of my best friends we were sitting on the back of a snow cat getting towed up the mountain. And he ended up slipping over the side and got caught in the tracks and was run over. And it was so horrible, [ MUSIC ] And I remember wishing that it happened to me because if I had died, everyone would have remembered me in the same way that he was getting remembered. And I felt like if it happened to me, then everyone would have remembered me in this amazing way and No one would have ever had to find out that I was gay. I always felt when I was younger that I had this deficit because I was gay and if anybody found out it was going to be such a negative thing and have negative repercussions and so I had to make up for it in every other way. So I pushed myself really hard in school and I pushed myself in sports and tried to kind of Almost build myself up in all these other areas so that it could compensate for this other thing that was, what I thought was wrong with me at the time. [ SOUND ] Triple from Kenworthy. He wants it. [ APPLAUSE ] The last Olympics, it was like One of the most euphoric moments of my entire life. Getting silver medal was like everything for me. And everything that happened with the media around that and everything else put me on a place where I suddenly realize that I don't want these two separate lives. I don't wanna be living a lie and feeling guilty about who I am. And I had it on my mind that I wanted to Come out as number one in the world, because I felt like no one can talk **** when you're the best. And I flew from Aspen to Mammoth from the Grand Prix and I won. And then I flew to LA for the Air and Style in Pasadena, and I won. And then I flew to Park City for the Grand Prix, and I won. Sure enough, I was ranked number one again and things just kinda lined up for me. I got a call from someone in my industry. This was someone that I looked up to a lot and he wold be like where's your boyfriend, you ****. And like all these different things and like why you late for practice, you sucking his ****? And like things that were so inappropriate and like really hurt me and then the day that I came out he called me and he was like choked up, almost in tears and was like I just want to say I'm so sorry because Of the things that I said and I never really actually thought that that was the case, and if I ever had I would have never said those things. But look I'm so sorry if I made it harder for you, or anything. And that phone call from this person, the last person I would have ever expected to, really made me feel like my god this is gonna be a much better experience than I thought it was gonna be. The happiest I've ever been, the best I've ever felt, any of those things have all been like. I wasn't in the right head space, and I think that so much of competing is mental. And I think that me coming out put me in the right head space. Going into Korea now, I feel a lot more pressure actually than I did going into Sochi, but it's all for good things. For good reasons. Like, the thought of being the first openly gay male ever to compete in the Winter Olympics is, it's **** cool. I still have a lot to prove but it's not even so much to myself now. It's kind of like to everybody else I feel in a way. It's this other demographic that's watching me. It's the LGBT community. I'm like so badly I want to inspire that community. Community and do well for them. And I would love to win a gold medal and have that for my country and for my community and just be able to have that. That, for me, is a pressure that I would want. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/"},"headline":"Gus Kenworthy Has a Great Excuse for Not Meeting Vice President Mike Pence","datePublished":"2018-02-16T02:43:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:58:48.708Z","description":"He's the second openly gay athlete to dodge a meeting with the veep","url":"https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Winter Olympics","onetime","2018 Pyeongchang Olympics","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74e8b88c0d619c01/698927eabc6cfc0d553e50d0/gettyimages-916801572.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74e8b88c0d619c01/698927eabc6cfc0d553e50d0/gettyimages-916801572.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Around the Games: Day 2 - Winter Olympic Games","caption":"Around the Games: Day 2 - Winter Olympic Games","creditText":"Ker Robertson—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/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/","name":"Gus Kenworthy Has a Great Excuse for Not Meeting Vice President Mike Pence"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Gus Kenworthy Is The First Openly Gay Winter Olympian","description":"Gus Kenworthy heads to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, thrilled to represent the LGBT community as the first openly gay Winter Olympic athlete.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FsbJtgRH/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-15T17:11:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FsbJtgRH.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/","duration":"PT4M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5161908/gus-kenworthy-broken-thumb-mike-pence/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```