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Gus Kenworthy has strong slopestyle run after Britney Spears gives him a shout-out

Kenworthy and Spears have a connection.
PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 18: Gus Kenworthy of the United States competes during the Freestyle Skiing Men's Ski Slopestyle qualification on day nine of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 18, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Gus Kenworthy woke up to a pretty exciting message.

Britney Spears, one of Kenworthy's favorite artists, Tweeted at the American snowboarder before the slopestyle competition in PyeongChang on Saturday.

Kenworthy was in good position to qualify after his first run with a score of 88.60. His second run was even better, scoring 90.80 points to qualify for the gold medal round. He is in seventh place. Spears must have been proud.

Kenworthy won the silver medal in the event in Sochi. He was part of the American team that swept the podium. Joss Christensen won the gold, and Nick Goepper won the bronze. Goepper also qualified for the gold medal run and is in fifth place.

In an interview with GQ, Kenworthy revealed he uses one of Britney Spears' songs to help him get ready for competitions. He plays it through the speakers of his phone for everyone to hear.

"I listen to music in the start gate, and then sometimes I'll play a song on my phone through the speakers, so I can hear it as I'm clipping into my skis. When I drop in it ends up getting drowned out by the sound of snow and the wind and everything. I'll sing to myself when I'm getting ready, just to keep my heart rate down, keep my thoughts mellow. I'm not super superstitious, but if I listen to a song and then I do well, then that becomes my song for however long it works for. At our last qualifying event, it was 'Gimme More' by Britney Spears. Everyone could hear, and so it's like all these dudes at the start, other skiers and my coach, and the song starts, and it's like: 'It's Britney, bitch!' I ended up winning the event in Aspen with that, and then went to our next qualifying event and got second with that song, and so the song's working for me right now."

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