Hunter Hess flashed an ‘L’ sign with his fingers after qualifying for the Olympic halfpipe final and then admitted the two weeks since being branded a ‘real loser’ by Donald Trump were the hardest of his life.
The president’s vicious reaction came after Hess, a freestyle skier for Team USA, admitted on the eve of the Games that the fraught political climate at home had left him with ‘mixed emotions’ about competing in American colours.
Despite the immense volume generated by the exchange, Hess’s qualified fifth for Friday night’s final on the halfpipe, with his hand gesture a direct response to the backlash sparked by Trump.
‘Apparently I am a loser,’ he said. ‘I am leaning into it.’
Irrespective of his strong showing in Livigno so far, Hess, 27, then opened up on the burden of being targeted by Trump, while insisting he does not regret expressing the sentiments that triggered the furor.
He said: ‘I worked so hard to be here. I sacrificed my entire life to make this moment happen. I’m not going to let controversy like that get in my way. I love the United States of America. I cannot say that enough.
Hunter Hess flashed an ‘L’ sign on his head in reference to being called a ‘real loser’ by Trump
The president ranted about his comments and sparked ‘the worst two weeks’ of Hess’ life
‘In my original statement, I felt like I said that, but apparently people didn’t take it that way. I’m so happy to be here, so happy to represent Team USA and ride as much as I can.
‘It was pretty distracting. I had a week that was pretty challenging. Luckily my family was there to support me and help me get through it. There was a lot of noise and I’ve never been subject to that type of criticism.
‘But with my family’s help, I was able to get through it. And skiing has saved my life, time and time again, and it seems to have done so again.
‘It was probably the hardest two weeks of my life. I luckily had a lot of friend and family support getting through it.’
Hess added: ‘I stand with what I said. I love the United States of America. I cannot reiterate that enough. My entire family, they all live there. It means the absolute world to me to be able to represent Team USA here. I’ve worked so hard to get here. And yeah, I stick with what I said.
‘I’m just a skier from Bend, Oregon. I’ve been doing the same thing with the same people my entire life. So being seen by the entire world was definitely a unique experience. But yet again, skiing took me away from it and gave me a lifeline when I didn’t have too much.
Hess qualified for the final of the Olympic halfpipe competition at Milan-Cortina on Friday
‘I’ve had a lot of support as well. There’s been a lot of noise and a lot of hate out there. And all those people are super entitled to their opinion. I respect it. But I’ve had so much support from my local community back home, my friends, my family.
‘So that has meant the world to me, the skiing community. It all meant the world to me. So I’m just happy to be here and representing USA.’
Hess was joined in the final by Team GB’s American-born skier Gus Kenworthy, who this month graphically protested against the ICE immigration agency after the violence and killings in Minnesota. Kenworthy posted a picture of the words ‘f*** ice’ written in snow – he claimed he wrote them with urine.
Hess said: ‘We had a training camp in Laax and we just chatted about it, kind of how we got through the hardship. He gave me some pointers, which was really nice. And he just helped me have a little bit of an avenue to get out of the pain and focus on the good.’
The controversy surrounding Hess began a fortnight ago when he spoke out at a press conference and criticized the direction the US is heading under Trump.
‘It’s a little hard,’ he told reporters. ‘There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.
After the competition, Hess opened up about competing in the wake of the president’s words
‘Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.’
Trump then immediately took to his TruthSocial account to fire back, claiming that Hess shouldn’t be competing for the US if he feels that way.
‘U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,’ Trump said.
‘If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’