Nick Goepper: Top things to know about the Team USA freestyle skier
A postponement to his Beijing 2022 event meant the American medallist was able to watch his beloved Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl, but he's now focused on the freeski slopestyle final
Nick Goepper will undoubtedly be looking forward to competing in the men's freeski slopestyle final on Wednesday (16 February).
The Team USA athlete has already had one big event to get invested in while in Beijing: the Super Bowl.
He had initially been scheduled to miss out on watching the NFL showpiece, in which his beloved Cincinnati Bengals were competing in the title game for the first time in his lifetime, but a rescheduling meant he was able to watch.
Change of plans
“I think if I timed it right, I could watch the first half before doing practice for slopestyle qualification,” Goepper had told USA Sports Today before the rescheduling. “But I don’t know if the Bengals are sucking if that’s gonna affect my performance, so it’s sort of a risk.”
He had then concluded: “I think I’m going to opt out of paying attention to the game on qualification day and just praying that they win.”
However, heavy snowfall and a lack of visibility led to a postponement on Sunday 13 February that impacted all the freeski slopestyle events.
While it meant athletes had to wait longer to compete, it did mean Goepper was able to tune into the Bengals' biggest match he has ever seen without concern that it could impact his own performance - even if they were eventually beaten 23-20 by the Los Angeles Rams.
Goepper's Games
Goepper has already competed in the big air, eventually coming 22nd.
The American has shown plenty of intent in the slopestyle ahead of the final, which is now being held on Wednesday 16 February.
He only finished behind Andri Ragettli (SUI) and Birk Ruud (NOR) in qualifying, something he will be hoping to better in the final.
This comes with the 27-year-old having won bronze in the slopestyle at Sochi 2014 and silver at PyeongChang 2018 - perhaps he will be able to complete the collection with gold at Beijing 2022.
Mental health
Despite how brilliant it would be to secure gold, that is not the be-all and end-all for Goepper as he enters the slopestyle final.
After being part of USA's success in 2014, he got caught up in the celebrity before falling into a depression, drinking too much and even contemplating suicide.
“I started to really question myself and my motives, having these crazy existential questions like, 'why am I doing this?'” he told Indy Star. “What is the point?”
Goepper ended up going to a rehabilitation centre and said: “It just familiarized myself with a really supportive community of people who had inflicted the same things upon them. I thought that was really uplifting and really cool to be able to talk about that.”
Now more at ease, he spoke to Indy Star again. "You always want the next thing. You want to take the next step,” he said. “I just realised how awesome life is. I don’t know, man, just feeling gratitude is the antidote to any kind of poor mental health.”
He's also shown plenty of perspective regarding the Games' current circumstances. “I’ve got to be honest. It’s going to be interesting talking about the COVID Olympics for the rest of my life and being able to reflect on that," Goepper says. "It’s an interesting time in history. To be in a pinnacle event at this time in the 21st century is pretty cool.”
When can I watch Nick Goepper in action?
The men's freeski slopestyle final takes place on Wednesday 16 February at 09:30 Beijing time (20:30 Tuesday back in Indiana).