American Hunter Hess responds to Trump's 'loser' criticism with 'L' gesture at Milan Cortina Olympics

Hess shaped his index finger and thumb to form the letter "L" and raised his hand to his forehead after finishing his run. 

The remark was a reference to Trump's earlier criticism of Hess, in which the president called him a "real loser" in a social media post following Hess' controversial remarks about representing the United States at the Olympics under the current administration.

Hess was among a group of U.S. freestyle skiers and other American athletes to address their thoughts on representing the U.S. at Milan Cortina. During a press conference before his events, Hess said he had "mixed emotions" about it.

"It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It's a little hard. There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren't," he began. 

"I think, for me, it's more I'm representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it. Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S.

"I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here."

"U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn't represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics," he wrote. "If that's the case, he shouldn't have tried out for the Team, and it's too bad he's on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Hess said Friday that he stands by what he initially said, but added, "It means the absolute world to me to be able to represent Team USA here. I worked so, so hard to get here. I stick with what I said."

Hess is one of four Americans that qualified for the 12-man halfpipe final on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.