Goepper Puts Down Slope Silver

Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) landed a stunning run on his final attempt to take silver on a day that many considered one of the strongest slopestyle skiing contests in history. 

"Wow - today was incredible," said Goepper. "It was such a pleasure to be a part of the best slopestyle skiing contest in history. Qualifying was mind blowing and finals were two times that. To land my final run and come away with my second Olympic medal is a dream come true."

Norway's Oystein Braaten landed a 95.00 on his first run to take the gold. Goepper's 93.60 silver-medal run came on his third and final run with Canada's Alex Beaulieu-Marchand taking bronze with 92.40 on his second run.

A bronze medalist in Sochi as a part of the Team USA medals sweep, this time Goepper was on the podium alone. Teammate Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, Colo.), his body aching from training crashes, was 12th.

"It’s super disappointing to not put a run down in finals,” said Kenworthy. “I was feeling pretty good about my skiing but I had a lot of things working against me with my body after some crashes in training. But I’m honored to be a part of Team USA. I’m stoked for the boys who landed runs and will be on the podium - a crazy level of finals.”

Goepper talked about how important the 2018 Olympics were to him, knowing how tough it is to repeat. "I really just wanted to come here, lay it all out there and land a run - to feel I was accomplished. Everyone skied well. This is an incredibly fulfilling experience - even more so than Sochi."

McRae Williams (Park City, Utah) and Alex Hall (Salt Lake City) just missed finals.

RESULTS
Men's Slopestyle Skiing