How Two USA Skeleton Olympians Are Celebrating Pride Month

Kendall Wesenberg waves after her final run during the women's skeleton at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 on Feb. 17, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.

Kendall Wesenberg celebrated Pride month in the best way possible. The 2018 Olympic skeleton athlete married singer/songwriter Whitney Fenimore.
The two shared their vows on June 4, 2022, in a ceremony in Truckee, California. A week later, Wesenberg and Fenimore both posted a wedding photo on Instagram, with the promise of “spamming your feed” with more pics once they were back from their honeymoon.
In her latest post, she ended with hashtag #lovewins.
Wesenberg’s teammate and friend, Andrew Blaser, was one of many to attend the wedding. He joked that he and their other sliding friends made up what the Wesenberg family dubbed the “jock table” at the reception.
“Super grateful that I got to spend this special day with these special people,” Blaser posted on Instagram with a photo of him hugging Wesenberg. “The Wesenberg’s are official ya’ll!” 
Then he added the hashtags: #loveislove #pride #outandproud #wedding #tahoe #olympian #olympians #love
Soon after the ceremony, Blaser flew to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for a skeleton team camp at the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center. One of few publicly out gay athletes at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Blaser is known for displaying Pride in what he wears, from blue nail polish (mostly to keep from biting his nails when he’s nervous during competition) to a snakeskin print race suit. He also has a rainbow flag on his Instagram bio, and at the Beijing Games, he created a rainbow wrap around his sled’s saddle.
To officially celebrate Pride Month, Blaser wore a Team USA Pride hat, a shirt that says “Woke Up Gay Again,” and Under Armour Pride shoes while training at the OTC earlier this month.
“I tend to wear those a lot during the month of June,” he said of the shoes. “It’s just a little bit about visibility and sharing my story.”
Blaser gets to show his rainbow colors again in September when his hometown of Boise, Idaho, celebrates Pride. But for the 32-year-old Olympian who came out to his family seven years ago, Pride is not a specific date on the calendar.
“I am trying to work on adopting the pride-all-year-long theory just in terms of increasing visibility and acceptance and understanding that everyone is in a different point on their journey for that,” he said by phone from Colorado.

Andrew Blaser poses for a picture leading into the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

But he is aware of the increased visibility during celebratory months, like the way Black Olympians were celebrated during Black History Month in February during the 2022 Beijing Games. 
“I feel the same way with Pride and the number of Olympians and Paralympians who identify as LGBTQ and celebrating those friendships,” Blaser said.
He cited paratriathlete Hailey Danz, a two-time Paralympic silver medalist, whom he got to know at the OPTC. They cheer each other on, sending messages back and forth when they see posts on social media about each other.
Last year, in an essay for Team USA during Pride Month, Danz wrote, “For the first time in my life, I’m proud to be gay.” 

Wesenberg’s future in skeleton is still undecided. She had worked hard to make her second U.S. Olympic team this year but fell short in points. In March, she posted a season recap video on Instagram and called it: “Not a retirement video, not a commitment to more… just got a lot more joy than I expected out of making the season recap video so I thought I would do it with these clips and see how it went.” 
She and Fenimore honeymooned in Saint Barthélemy and call Nashville home.
Blaser is also noncommittal about his future in skeleton. He has “some pretty cool job opportunities on the table” and knows that if he wants a relationship to flourish, then he needs to settle down.
“I am super impressed that Kendall was able to find someone who fit for her,” he said. “I would struggle with that timeframe-wise. I get too distracted on tour.”
But Blaser also knows training is a once in a lifetime opportunity and that, at age 32, his competition days are numbered. He finished 21st at the 2022 Beijing Games and could see himself aiming for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
It’s a decision he’ll make “down the road.” Meanwhile, he has started training again. 
“I made a deal with myself,” he said. “I will train as though I’m going to compete and then we’ll make that decision when we get closer to it and if it feels right.”
Then he added, “The way I look at it is I’m never going to be mad if I get into really good shape, right? Like what’s the worst that could happen? I decide not to compete and just have better fitness levels. There’s nothing wrong with that!”