Indiana's Nick Goepper wins silver medal in 2018 Olympics slopestyle
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – The way the Olympic men’s ski slopestyle final played out, Indiana’s Nick Goepper had one legitimate shot at a second medal.
Pressure.
But Goepper has been dealing with much more than that in the four years since taking bronze in this event in Sochi. Four years of self-doubt – about skiing, about everything.
So on his third and final run Sunday, the 23-year-old came through with a score of 93.60 that held up for a silver medal behind Norway’s Oystein Braaten (95.00). Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand won bronze (92.40) for a much different looking podium than when the Americans swept the medals in the event’s Olympic debut.
“I’m super proud just to be where I am today,” he said several hours after the competition had ended, and he had time to reflect on not just his accomplishment here but everything that’s transpired in his life. “Several years ago, I don’t know how it got to the point, but there came a time where I had pretty much given up on skiing all together, had given up on myself, and basically wanted to end it.
“And it’s kind of a tough subject to talk about and to understand, but I was really glad that I got the help that I needed and just to be here, living, experiencing all of this. And with a different outlook and perspective and just more maturity. I’m just so grateful for everything and I just can’t wait to just keep rolling and keep skiing and just keep hustling because I love what I’m doing.”
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In front of his parents, girlfriend, three siblings and close friends, Goepper came up with a medal-winning strategy after some early struggles.
“I had made a couple of little mistakes here and there that I knew even if I made amazing jumps weren’t going to put me in podium contention,” said Goepper of his first two finals runs of 59.00 and 69.00. “I really decided to lay it all out on the third run. I really had to dig deep and trust myself.”
After the second run, Great Britain’s James Woods was in third at 91.00, so Goepper needed a performance comparable to what he put down in the first qualifying run (92.80) at Phoenix Snow Park. He opted for two jumps (double cork 1260, triple cork 1440) out of three that were part of his medal-winning run at the Sochi Olympics and immediately knew the run was good enough to bump him at least ahead of Woods.
“I knew it was what I was hoping and that caliber of run would put me up there in the top three,” Goepper said. “There were some really good guys that were still to drop so I wasn’t sure I was going to stay up there. It was a nail-biting moment down there waiting at the bottom” for the final four skiers to finish.
When the final competitor finished, and the silver medal was safely secured, the celebration really began for the Goepper support team.
“When my family comes out to watch these competitions, it’s more pressure than anything,” he said. “I don’t want to let Mom and Dad down. I’ve got to at least make to finals, then I’ve got to at least get on the podium, so Mom and Dad are stoked.
“It’s kind of a cool story coming from Indiana, an area that’s not really known for skiing. Just sort of be an inspiration to a lot of the kids back there. To see how far I’ve come is pretty cool.”
Goepper said that four years ago he didn’t know how to handle the fame and expectations that came with being an Olympic medal winner. He has been open about spending two months at a treatment center in the summer of 2015 for a drinking problem and depression stemming from a lack of direction after Sochi.
“I really had no plan after Sochi. I was partying with my friends and flying into this void. I’m really going to what’s important after this Olympics, capitalize on this moment then get back to work and back to doing what I love.”
That might even mean a return to the Olympics in four years – and maybe even a new challenge: “Looking forward to Beijing in 2022, maybe doing halfpipe and slopestyle, so we’ll see.”
“I really, really enjoy being a veteran at the Olympics and having that experience of already been to a Games and already have sort of been through wringer, per se, of all the craziness and the hype. So I feel I’m super-equipped to handle everything that gets thrown at me.”
Mark Faller of the USA TODAY Network contributed to this story.