This is what dreeeams are made of!
American idols Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy star on the cover of OUT Magazine‘s newest issue, which debuted on Thursday! The Olympians looked as hot as ever in the black-and-white image (above) — and oh yeah, they’re shirtless, too!
In the interview, the athletes open up about how their friendship blossomed IRL after connecting online and how close they’ve gotten since competing at PyeongChang! Not to mention, their experience as out and proud American athletes! Seriously, we’re so proud.
Related: Adam Rippon Has A Boyfriend!
Adam said of their initial meeting at the opening ceremony:
“You know, it was really important for me to find Gus. We joke around a lot, but being able to experience the opening ceremony with somebody that I know has felt a lot of those same feelings as me was important. I thought of everything I had been through as a young kid to get to that moment, and to feel confident, and to feel that I really liked who I was.”
Gus added:
“The opening ceremony is obviously a very big deal ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ it’s ceremonial, and a rite of passage in a way. But I didn’t have the best Olympics experience the first time around, in Sochi. I felt like a fraud. I wasn’t being myself. I had a boyfriend at the time that I wasn’t telling anybody about ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ and I wasn’t out to my parents. And then post-Games every interviewer asked me, “Who’s your celebrity crush? What’s your type of girl? What’s your ideal date?” And I was just lying. And I hated myself for it. So to be in Pyeongchang, and get to walk into this huge stadium as myself, as an out gay man, and do it alongside Adam was the biggest, best moment of my entire life. And that was why it was so important for me to find him. Because I felt like we had the same story, and I wanted to share that moment with him. It was the highlight of the entire Games for me.”
Of being out gay athletes representing people back home who are against you (looking at you, Mike Pence), Gus said:
“I got so many messages, like, “Why are you even there? You got last place.” Well, first of all, I didn’t get last place, I made it to the final. But also, I was at the fucking Olympics. I didn’t get here because I’m a gay athlete ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ it wasn’t handed to me. I qualified the same way that everyone else did. It took a lot of fucking grit and gumption and hard work to get to this position. Anyone that discredits it is truly just a troll. But also, it does suck. Being out was such a fucking cool experience, but no straight athletes were checking their messages or comments the day before their event and seeing death threats and super-hurtful shit from internet bullies. The day before my event I read messages that were like, “I hope you fall, I hope you break your legs, you’re a piece of shit.” I had a message that was like, “I want to curb stomp you, you faggot.” I’m like, OK, cool, there’s someone out there that wants to put my teeth on a curb and stomp on my neck. It takes a lot to read that about yourself and know that there are people out there that don’t want you to succeed.”
Adam added of his experience:
“And then you go and represent those people. I’m an American representing the United States of America, and I would get a pit in my stomach every time there was somebody on social media with an American flag in their name. The most consistent message I got was, “I hope you fail, I hope you fall. I’ve never cheered against someone in my entire life.” That was really consistent ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ it was pretty much across the board. That somebody could go out of their way to say they’re proud of their country and that they love it, and they’re a patriot, and then turn around and taunt their athletes is incredibly disrespectful. They’re the opposite of a patriot. You don’t represent America. You represent you and your family and your small-minded whatever. That’s not American.”
Hear, hear!
We highly recommend you ch-ch-check out the full interview and HOT pics HERE!!
[Image via OUT Magazine.]
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