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He has competed in the Winter Games twice before, but this year will look different for the freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy. He has a new team and a new Olympic event: halfpipe skiing.

Kenworthy, who was born in Britain and grew up in Telluride, Colo., said he began thinking about competing for his birth country in 2012, as he prepared for the Sochi Games. A dual citizen, Kenworthy skied for the United States at the 2014 and 2018 Games.

Despite qualifying for both slopestyle and halfpipe skiing in 2014, he lost his spot for halfpipe when it was given to a teammate at a coach’s discretion before the Games. Competing only in slopestyle, Kenworthy won the silver medal in Sochi.

He qualified again in slopestyle in 2018 but narrowly missed making the halfpipe team. Kenworthy said he had been hoping for a different result — or a coaching decision in his favor this time.

“There’s a fatigue factor” in enduring the rigorous process of making the U.S. team, Kenworthy said, adding that he felt he had completely exhausted himself working to qualify in both disciplines.

Deciding to ski for Britain meant he could more seamlessly lock in the halfpipe event. “I got to train for the Games, versus train to qualify to compete,” Kenworthy said. He said he had felt less pressure, allowing him to more narrowly focus on his skiing.

“That is a different experience from what I’ve had the past two Games,” he said. “So it does feel like I’m starting fresh.”

The decision, which he announced in 2019, also had an emotional factor. It was a way to honor his biggest fan: his mother.

“I want to do this for my mom,” said Kenworthy, whose mother is from a town outside Liverpool, in northwest England. “She bent over backward to make everything happen for me and really make my dreams come true.” He said he had a vision of holding up the British flag from the podium in her honor.

The men’s halfpipe competition will begin with qualification on Thursday, and the finals will be held on Saturday at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.

Kenworthy said he was proud to be back for a third Olympics, a rare accomplishment for athletes who endure the physical strain of freestyle skiing.

“I have a run in mind that I think is unique to me and shows how I ski and how I approach halfpipe,” he said. “I just want to land the run — and I do think that if I land it, it will do well. But I don’t want to put so much emphasis on what that means.”

The only goal, he said, was to enjoy that moment of finally competing in halfpipe at the Olympics.

Medals aside, Kenworthy’s career has begun to transcend the sport. He has gained a following in the United States since 2015 when he came out as gay — a rarity in the world of extreme sports — and booked acting and modeling gigs in “American Horror Story” and a Prada advertising campaign.

“When I look back at my career, getting to compete as an out athlete and getting to be an advocate for the LGBTQ community has meant more to me than any medal or accolade ever could,” he wrote on Instagram, reflecting on beginning his final Olympic Games. “I feel forever grateful for this moment, this sport and this life.”