After third Olympic medal, Nick Goepper says, "It was just about experience."

After winning his third Olympic medal in as many Games, American Nick Goepper has some bad news: there's no cutting corners.

"I wish I had a magic answer but, first of all, you've got to love it. And in times that you don't love it, you've got to know that you're eventually going to love it," said Goepper on Wednesday (16 February) after winning silver in the men's freeski slopestyle at Beijing 2022.

Goepper matched his silver from PyeongChang 2018 and also owns a bronze medal in the event - part of an American sweep - from Sochi 2014.

But despite that continued success, Goepper says it never really gets easier.

"I think today, it was just about experience. Earlier in the week, I mean, even this year, I thought I'd have it all figured out by now," Goepper told Olympics.com. "But this year, I was just constantly sort of relearning some lessons from the past of decisions about creating a run that would be consistent and I'd be able to land come game time.

"This week, I've figured out a run that I thought would be that run and today was a little bit windy," he continued. "It was freezing cold. A lot of guys weren't landing, you know, a lot of guys were landing... So, it was just trusting my gut and going with with my skiing."

That trust landed him on the podium, next to teammate Alex Hall, the gold medallist. Sweden's Jesper Tjader took bronze.

"This feels very, very validating. I feel relaxed. I feel like the hard work has paid off. I feel like I should be here," said Goepper of the medal. "It's just a real honour to be on the podium with Alex and Jesper and to add to a legacy with U.S. free skiing."

At 27, he's not sure if that legacy will continue.

"Ask me in the morning," he joked when asked if he'd keep competing.

Goepper's in a good spot, he says, overwhelmed by options and unsure where that will lead him.

"I feel like narrowing down the rest of the season and skiing a bit more and sort of looking at the next year," he explained. "I think there's so many options and I feel so grateful to be in the position that I'm in."

No matter what option he chooses to explore, Goepper's career has taught him a lot - as much as he hates the cliches he's come to attach to it.

_"_I think the moral of my story is... it's just full of cliches like never give up. Trust your instincts, just keep going, keep going, keep going," he said. "Really cliches are what they are for a reason because they're accurate and they work. And man, it's just... it's been quite the journey."

A journey that, as Goepper succinctly put it on Instagram, is "Three for three."