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:
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: