For the first time ever, men’s slopestyle skiing will be an event in the Olympics. Watch it kick off with the qualifying round starting at 1:15 a.m. ET:
It’s rare to see a skiing contender come out of Indiana, but that’s the case with Nick Goepper. As you can see, the event attracts the occasion outlier because you can train in atypical ways:
Tomorrow I'm gonna go for the elusive "gold" at this little competition in Russia. Thanks for all the love people! pic.twitter.com/cU8fTBBmTJ
— Nick Goepper (@NickGoepper) February 12, 2014
Goepper, 19, has dominated lately, taking plenty of first place finishes including Winter X Games gold. He’s not the only contender, however.
Colorado natives Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy are also medal contenders, giving the U.S. a chance to have a podium presence in the event. There are international competitors of note, as Norway’s Andreas Haatveit stands out from a pack that also features Australia’s Russ Henshaw and Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand.
It should be an entertaining debut, and Goepper is undoubtedly excited:
GAMETIME! pic.twitter.com/j2q7yYOJhh
— Nick Goepper (@NickGoepper) February 13, 2014