Nick Goepper

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American freestyle skier (born 1994)

title: "Nick Goepper" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1994-births", "living-people", "american-male-freestyle-skiers", "olympic-silver-medalists-for-the-united-states-in-freestyle-skiing", "olympic-bronze-medalists-for-the-united-states-in-freestyle-skiing", "freestyle-skiers-at-the-2014-winter-olympics", "freestyle-skiers-at-the-2018-winter-olympics", "freestyle-skiers-at-the-2022-winter-olympics", "medalists-at-the-2014-winter-olympics", "medalists-at-the-2018-winter-olympics", "medalists-at-the-2022-winter-olympics", "x-games-competitors", "sportspeople-from-indiana", "sportspeople-from-dearborn-county,-indiana", "people-from-lawrenceburg,-indiana", "people-from-sandy,-oregon", "sportspeople-from-clackamas-county,-oregon", "21st-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American freestyle skier (born 1994)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Goepper" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American freestyle skier (born 1994) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox sportsperson"]

FieldValue
nameNick Goepper
imageNick Goepper (cropped).png
captionGoepper in 2022
full_nameNicholas Charles Goepper
birth_date
birth_placeFt. Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
height6 ft 0 in
weight160 lb
educationWestminster College
country
sportFreestyle skiing
eventSlopestyle
coachMike Jankowski
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| name = Nick Goepper | image = Nick Goepper (cropped).png | caption = Goepper in 2022 | full_name = Nicholas Charles Goepper | birth_date = | birth_place = Ft. Wayne, Indiana, U.S. | height = 6 ft 0 in | weight = 160 lb | education = Westminster College | country = | sport = Freestyle skiing | event = Slopestyle | club = | coach = Mike Jankowski | medaltemplates =

Nicholas Charles Goepper (born March 14, 1994) is an American Olympic freestyle skier. Representing the United States, Goepper won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and won a silver medal at both the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. He has also won five gold medals and two silver medals at the Winter X Games. His sponsors include PowerBar, Red Bull, Kulkea, and Völkl.

Early life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Perfect_North_Slopes.jpg" caption="Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, IN."] ::

Nick Goepper was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana but raised in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He has two younger sisters, one younger brother, and a cat. He began skiing at the age of five, started competing when he was eleven years old, and landed his first double backflip by thirteen.

Career

In 2009, Goepper moved to Sandy, Oregon where he attended school and trained with professional skiers at Windells Academy (now Wy'East Mountain Academy) on a full ride scholarship under Head Coach Mike Hanley. He also attended Westminster College. Goepper won a gold medal at the 2013-14 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup in Cardrona, New Zealand and qualified for the 2014 Olympics at the 2013 Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado. He placed first despite skiing with a broken hand and no poles.

Awards

At the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, Nick Goepper, Gus Kenworthy, and Joss Christensen swept the medal podium, winning bronze, silver, and gold, respectively, in men's slopestyle skiing. The all American trio appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in New York City and were also featured together on a Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal box. He was also featured on a Jif peanut butter jar. Goepper's hometown threw a parade for him when he returned, and Perfect North Slopes gave him a lifelong pass. He also met former Indiana Governor Mike Pence and threw the opening pitch of the season for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team.

Following the Pyeongchang Olympics, Goepper was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash Award, the most prestigious award an Indiana resident can receive. He later met President Donald Trump at the White House where he was mistakenly addressed as Mark Goepper.

Philanthropy

In December 2014, Goepper partnered with Wy'East Mountain Academy (formerly Windells Academy) to host a rail jam competition at Perfect North Slopes, which attracted more than 150 participants with all proceeds donated to "The Cure Starts Now Foundation". Goepper also serves as a Trustee on Wy'East's inaugural not-for-profit board of trustees. In June 2017, he joined a group of Olympic athletes on a week mission trip to Kigali, Rwanda organized by "Kids Play International".

Public appearances

In 2014, Goepper and his mother were featured in the NBC Sports televised series How to Raise an Olympian sponsored by the P&G "Thank You, Mom" campaign. His mother, Linda, recalled Goepper spending all day skiing in the terrain park at Perfect North Slopes and building ramps/jumps in the family backyard to use year-round. Goepper talked about watching hours of freestyle skiing videos of professionals. His sisters, both gymnasts at the time, taught him flips and helped coach him before competitions. Goepper also mentioned selling candy bars on the school bus, mowing neighbors' lawns, and babysitting children to pay for his skiing-related expenses when his father, Chris, lost his job during the Great Recession.

Before heading to his first Olympics, Goepper attended the 71st Golden Globe Awards where he met celebrities like Usher, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, actress Reese Witherspoon, former professional boxer Mike Tyson, and singer Taylor Swift.

Before competing in his second Olympics, Goepper was interviewed by People Magazine. He said he had a panic attack throwing rocks at some cars shortly after the Sochi Olympics. However, he immediately confessed to the police and paid about $8,000 for damages. Goepper also shared his struggle with suicidal thoughts. "There came a point when I was drinking every day, and I was constantly thinking about ways to end my own life," he said. He was admitted into a rehabilitation center in Houston, Texas for two months and has since recovered.

Personal life

On May 4, 2018, Goepper proposed to his girlfriend in Marco Island, Florida and announced their engagement on Instagram with the caption, "She's stuck with me forever! Lizzy Braun-not-for-long" However, based on socials, it looks as though they are divorced and no longer living in the same state. They also do not follow each other on Instagram. Besides skiing, he enjoys surfing and skateboarding which he claims are helpful for cross-training.

In December 2014, Nick Goepper confessed to Dearborn County Sheriff's department that he was the "unknown local" who had been throwing rocks at traveling cars, damaging personal property & threatening driver safety. Goepper was forced to pay $8,000 in fines in lieu of jail time for reckless endangerment.

Nick Goepper's family attended the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, to cheer him on. Linda Goepper, Nick's mom, said that she never doubted her son being able to compete with the highest-ranked athletes.

References

References

  1. "Nick Goepper". United States Olympic Committee.
  2. "Athlete Profile – Nick GOEPPER". pyeongchang2018.com.
  3. "Athlete: GOEPPER Nicholas". International Ski Federation.
  4. Smith, Shawn. (February 18, 2018). "USA's Nick Goepper wins silver medal in freeski slopestyle". NBC Olympics.
  5. (January 24, 2018). "Nick Goepper's official X Games athlete biography". ESPN.
  6. "Nick Goepper – PowerBar". PowerBar, Inc.
  7. "Nick Goepper: Freeskiing – Red Bull Athlete Page". Red Bull.
  8. "Nick Goepper Freestyle". Völkl.
  9. "Windells Academy formally changes name to Wy'East Mountain Academy".
  10. Wallerson, Ryan. (March 16, 2016). "Training with Nick Goepper: Inside his neuromuscular training".
  11. "Nick Goepper".
  12. (February 9, 2018). "Best of U.S. Ski Slopestyle Team Member Nick Goepper". Dew Tour.
  13. (February 13, 2014). "Freestyle Skiing – Slopestyle Men – Medalists". Olympic.org.
  14. (August 1, 2014). "Athletic Spotlight: Nick Goepper". U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.
  15. (April 27, 2018). "Remarks by President Trump Welcoming the U.S. Olympic Team". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  16. Arens, Jason. (January 29, 2015). "Rail Jams for Good Causes". Windells Academy.
  17. "Board of Trustees".
  18. (June 2017). "U.S. Olympians and NFL Players travel to Rwanda to Celebrate Olympic Day". Kids Play International.
  19. (February 4, 2014). "Lawrenceburg raised Goepper to Olympic glory". Cincinnati.com.
  20. Carlson, Adam. (February 17, 2018). "Returning Olympic Medalist Nick Goepper: Why I Spoke Out About My Substance Abuse, Mental Health". People Magazine.
  21. (March 2, 2014). "Another Side of Nick Goepper". FOX19 WXIX Cincinnati.
  22. (December 19, 2014). "Local Olympian accused of throwing rocks at vehicles". FOX19.
  23. Hebert, Cyndee. (2018-01-16). "The joyful stress of being the mom of an Olympian".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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