DC ExtraTime: A Challenge "Pro" Comes to American Horror Story

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Two years ago, two trilogies of The Challenge that ran parallel to each other began: the long, dragged-out one of the regular series worth $2.5 million, and the shorter, more lighter version whose true winners were the charities its competitors competed for. The ladder was Champs vs. Stars/Pros and saw champions & so-called champs take on formidable opposition from the sports and entertainment worlds for charity. And in a team of pro athletes that included CM Punk, Candace Wiggins, two NFL defensemen and eventual breakout star Louise Hazel, Team USA was well represented on the first season of that trilogy, Champs vs. Pros... and a few weeks ago we focused on Olympic snowboarder Lindsay Jacobellis and Tokyo 2020 hopeful, surfer Tia Blanco.

But the one Olympic athlete with the biggest profile that spring 2017 was none other than Gus Kenworthy. As a freestyle skier who was part of only the third American medal sweep at a Winter Olympics in claiming silver in the men's slopestyle in Russia, Gus became a star figure back home in the U.S.  But it was after the afterglow of Sochi 2014 faded that he became the first action sports athlete to come out, and the latest in a long line of Olympians who, in addition to flying their national flag, also boasted the pride flag... symbol of the gay and lesbian community. And he was the subject of an In-Depth post that looked back on his time on Champs vs. Pros which appeared before he competed in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, where he made it to the gold medal final but didn't make it to the podium.

Last week, while the attention of Challenge fans were fixated on an eventful night on War of the Worlds 2 including that most memorable elimination, the newest season of a cable staple premiered its newest season, one that will see Gus bring his talents to a whole new world and audience in time for Halloween, part of the continuing rise of LGBT representation on mainstream TV.