Rescued dogs doing well four years after Sochi Games

Gus Kenworthy jokes he’s been superseded by Mamuchka, the dog, with his own mother.

Nearly four years after helping rescue Mamuchka and her litter from Sochi, Kenworthy knows his place.

“My mom is actually obsessed with her,” Kenworthy said. “She likes the dog more than she likes my brothers and I. She has a grandchild now. My oldest brother has a daughter, and between the daughter and the dog, she’s like, I don’t care about anybody else.”

Kenworthy became the most famous for rescuing strays from the Sochi Olympics, but several others brought home dogs from those Games. Snowboardcross star Lindsey Jacobellis rescued a pup, as did Amanda Bird, the marketing and communications director for USA Bobsled & Skeleton. Both named their dogs Sochi.

Four years later, all are doing well. Kenworthy also helped rescue Jake and Mishka, who were part of Mamuchka’s litter. He says he helped because Robin MacDonald, Kenworthy’s boyfriend at the time, stayed behind an extra month and did the work. MacDonald hasn’t gotten enough credit for all he did to save the dogs, Kenworthy said.

Kenworthy didn’t come out publicly until 2015, so he didn’t feel he could say his boyfriend when describing what MacDonald was doing to bring the dogs to the USA. Calling MacDonald a friend allowed the media and others to give Kenworthy more and MacDonald less credit than each deserved.

“I had basically said, ‘Look at these dogs. I need them. I want them,’ ” Kenworthy said. “He was like, OK, if you want them, we’ll figure it out and we’ll bring them home. And that’s the type of guy he was and is.”

The couple later broke up, and Jake and Mishka live in Vancouver with MacDonald. (You can follow them on Instagram @thesochipups.)

“They’re doing really well. He takes the most amazing care of them,” Kenworthy said. “They don’t live with me, and probably for the better because they have an awesome life in Vancouver and I’m always on the road.”

The constant travel is part of why Jacobellis has had her parents watch Sochi at their home in Vermont. With the Olympic silver medalist recently moving to Southern California, Jacobellis says she gets shot down any time she mentions moving him out there.

“My father is not giving Sochi back to me,” she said, with a laugh. “I am a little bummed, but it’s hard because Sochi has like 5 acres back home. My mom just got a new puppy, and he’s been really, really liking that scenario. It means I just have to go rescue another dog and swap him out for my dad if I want to ever see Sochi again.”

Bird’s dog overcame parvo and distemper but is now healthy.