Gus Kenworthy Opens Up About Health Issues That Could Impact Olympics

Professional skier Gus Kenworthy revealed he is suffering from the after-effects of a breakthrough infection that forced him to withdraw from a recent competition. In the wake of it all, he is trying to stay positive as the Olympics are only two weeks away. To make matters worse, he got sick with the infection not long after suffering a head injury that had earlier forced him to take time off from training.

"Six weeks ago I got a pretty bad concussion while at a training camp in Switzerland," the Olympic silver medalist posted to Instagram, noting his added concern about the injury because he has suffered from "a few serious TBI's (traumatic brain injuries) in recent years."

Kenworthy took off the next two weeks and "followed all of the SafeSport" to get back on the slopes. However, just a couple days after he returned to training, he got sick with fevers and chills. He got a test and it came back positive for a breakthough case of the virus at the center of the ongoing global pandemic.

"Despite being fully vaccinated I had caught a breakthrough case," he said. "I checked into a hotel and did a 10-day self-isolated quarantine until I tested negative and was cleared to fly home."

Kenworthy might have been cleared to return to the slopes, but he noted that he has been experiencing "ongoing issues with my head" that he initially thought "had to do with the concussion" but now, after consulting with specialists, he believes his current symptoms might be "residual effects" from his breakthrough case.

"Any time I've tried to work out or gotten my heart rate up I've become very light-headed, disoriented, and nauseous," he wrote.

He had hoped to compete last week in the season's first World Cup competition, but "after the warm-up before the elimination round, I once again felt dizzy and disoriented," he revealed. When it was his turn to compete, he "felt completely lost in the air during the first trick in my run - the skiing equivalent to the 'twisties'" and decided to withdraw from the event. The twisties notoriously sidelined Simone Biles at the most recent Olympic Games.

"I have another competition coming up this week, the @dewtour, but it's still TBD whether I'll be able to compete or in what capacity," Kenworthy wrote.

Kenworthy expressed concern about his ability to compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

"With the Olympics less than two months away I'm incredibly frustrated but trying to stay positive and hopeful that this will pass," he wrote. "Not sure what else I can do but wait."

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