ZHANGJIAKOU, China — British freestyle skier Gus
Kenworthy does not feel the
International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) "heart
is in the right place", he said Saturday, as he bowed out of the Olympics
for good by accusing the governing body of "greed".
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Kenworthy, a silver medalist in 2014 for the USA
before switching allegiance, has been a fierce critic of the IOC’s decision to
award China the Winter
Olympics because of its "appalling" human
rights record.
He told AFP earlier this week that he has been trying
to "tread lightly" while he is in China.
But the 30-year-old did not hold back after competing
in Saturday's halfpipe final — his last event before retiring.
"It was never that I thought
China couldn't put
on a good games — I absolutely knew that they could and they have," he
said.
"But when there are human rights atrocities
happening in the country and a poor stance on
LGBTQ rights, then those things
need to be taken into consideration by the IOC."
Kenworthy came out as gay shortly after winning silver
in slopestyle at the Sochi Games, and he has been an outspoken supporter of
LGBTQ rights at the Olympics.
He said he would like to see the IOC take a more
proactive approach in helping "marginalized and disenfranchised
people".
"Because it's the world stage and everybody’s
watching, there is an opportunity to create positive change and the IOC could
help dictate that change by pushing on certain issues," he said.
"That doesn't mean that I don't like the Olympics
— I do, I just think that it could even be better."
Kenworthy switched allegiance to the
UK from the US in
late 2019.
He finished eighth in a halfpipe final that took place
in strong winds and freezing conditions, and fell heavily on his second run.
Kenworthy said organizers did not engage athletes in
"a discussion about postponing or waiting or anything".
"I think that sometimes it doesn't feel like
their heart's in the right place — it feels like it's a greed game," the
30-year-old said of the IOC.
"The Olympics is so incredible but it's a TV
show, and you really saw that today. I know that we're one of the last events
of the games so there wasn't much that they could have done to postpone us but
it was gnarly today."
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