Olympic Medalist Gus Kenworthy May Join Team Great Britain for 2022 Games

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy may not be donning the stars and stripes for the 2022 Games in Beijing.

Kenworthy, who medaled in slopestyle at the 2014 Sochi Games, is considering a move to the Great Britain squad for 2022. It would be Kenworthy's third Olympics. He battled injury in Pyeongchang in 2018, finishing a distant 12 in slopestyle.

Kenworthy is a Colorado native but his mother is a British national. He maintains dual citizenship because he was born in the U.K. The move to Team GB would allow Kenworthy to compete in all three freeski Olympic events–slopestyle, halfpipe and big air. With the stable of American freeskiers being the deepest in the world, a move to the British side would be the path of least resistance for Kenworthy. He would also be able to train in all three disciplines, a schedule that is untenable under the U.S. Ski & Snowboard flag.

Though it is not uncommon for Olympians to switch national allegiances, Kenworthy would be just the second American medalist to do so. Sailor Rod Davis won gold at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles before flipping to the New Zealand squad and claiming silver at the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Kenworthy maintains a high-level profile for an athlete on the four-year cycle, recently showing off his acting chops on the ninth season of American Horror Story. His agent Michael Spencer said no final decision has been made, but both USS and GB Snow Sports approved the transfer. Kenworthy has until the start of the 2020-21 snow sports season to make the call.