Olympics Men’s Ski Slopestyle Finals medal results, highlights and more
By Zach Bigalke
Norway is currently leading the total medal count by a wide margin. Oystein Braaten added to the haul with gold in the men’s ski slopestyle.
In the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Americans swept the podium of the first-ever men’s slopestyle competition in freestyle skiing at the Winter Games. They brought a team capable of doing so again to Pyeongchang. McRae Williams, the reigning FIS world champion, led an American team that also included 2014 Olympic silver and bronze medalists Gus Kenworthy and Nick Goepper.
In qualifying, however, only Kenworthy and Goepper managed to make it through to the 12-man finals rounds. A sweep was impossible for the United States in Pyeongchang before the finals even commenced.
Even so, either American had the potential to capture gold. But an inability to put together a complete performance with a broken thumb plagued Kenworthy, who finished 12th out of 12 competitors. With Kenworthy injured and unable to effectively compete, Goepper was the last man standing to carry the torch for the United States in slopestyle.
MEDAL RESULT | Freestyle skiing men's slopestyle
Oystein Braaten
Nick Goepper
Alex Beaulieu-Marchand
In the first of three runs, though, Oystein Braaten put in a 95.00 run to lead the round. Unlike some other freestyle skiing events, such as aerials, all 12 skiers get to compete in all three runs. The Norwegian star needed only to wait and see if he could be caught.
Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, a 23-year-old Canadian ranked just 49th in the FIS World Cup standings, looked on pace for silver after posting a 92.40 run in the second leg of the finals. If the Olympic final was determined by cumulative score, Beaulieu-Marchand would have been the gold medalist. He posted at least 80 points in all three of his runs, the only skier to do so in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Goepper struggled until his third run, when he put together a 93.60 to steal away silver from Beaulieu-Marchand. The United States ceded the top step of the podium, but Goepper ensured that an American continued to reach the podium in every Olympics since the discipline’s introduction.
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