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Perfect North's Nick Goepper will be bringing a silver medal back to Indiana

Posted at 12:58 AM, Feb 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-19 21:32:23-05

Nick Goepper made his second Olympic medal even brighter and more thrilling than the first, and he made sure to share his big moment with his hometown fans in the Lawrenceburg area.

Just when it seemed he would go home empty-handed, the 23-year-old slopestyle skier jumped from the back of the pack with a spectacular run in his last pressure-packed chance and won a silver medal Saturday night in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Short of winning the gold, Goepper said it was just what he’d been dreaming of after winning a bronze medal four years ago and overcoming depression that had threatened his career and even led to thoughts of suicide.

“I spent the last 72 hours just visualizing this moment, “ Goepper said right after the results were official.  “To put it down when the pressure was on and come away with a different color [of medal], that’s what I wanted to do.”

Goepper said he was “biting my tongue” waiting to see if his score of 93.60 would hold up for second place while the last few skiers took their final runs.

Nick Goepper celebrates after hitting the landing on his final jump. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images).

“That was one of the most intense, crazy slopestyle competitions I’ve ever been in,” said Goepper, who has come through nail-biting pressure plenty of times while also winning three straight X Games gold medals from 2013 to 2015.

“It was uncharacteristic of me to fall on my first couple of runs," he said. "I just want to thank my family and supporters.”

Goepper hugged his parents and sisters, who had been watching and cheering at the bottom of the course.

Earlier, Goepper, who got his trick-skiing start as a kid at Perfect North Slopes, had used a free moment in the competition to lean into the TV camera and give a shoutout to his fans at home.

“What’s up, Perfect North? What’s up, Indiana?” he said with a grin.

At the time, Goepper had just crushed his first qualifying run, and he was about to learn that his score of 92.50 would give him an early lead.

Back home, about 100 people gathered at Perfect North for a watch party clapped and cheered.

Operations Manager Tim Doll said the "hype was through the roof."

Goepper, who grew up in Hidden Valley Lake just across Indiana 1 from Perfect North, has always spoken proudly of his small-town Indiana roots and his humble beginnings on the small slopes.

 

“What’s nice about Nick is that he’s a humble, grounded guy from the Midwest," Doll said. "He has those Midwestern values. He hasn’t forgotten where he’s come from. He keeps grounded, he keeps in touch with everyone around here. He’s always back visiting whenever he’s in town.”

His feelings for Indiana have been mutual, which explained why Twitter was flooded with congratulations from proud Hoosiers overnight.

SEE more tweets below.

Goepper, who was fifth in qualifying, had to pull out all the stops on his last run. He was nearly perfect through the rails and jumps before stomping a triple cork 1440 at the finish. He might have won a gold medal, but the judges decided Oystein Bratten of Norway was just a little better. Bratten had a best run of 95.00. Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand had 92.40 to win the bronze.

The other American finalist, Gus Kenworthy, broke his thumb in practice last week and struggled to 12th place. Kenworthy won a silver in the U.S. medal sweep in 2014. 

SEE the results from the finals and qualifying.

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