Goepper Clinches Olympic Spot at Copper - U.S. Freeskiing

COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO. (Dec. 22) -- Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, IN) became the first skier to secure a spot on the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Saturday with his second-place finish in the slopestyle final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face. Goepper was the top American finisher behind Norway's Andreas Haatveit, who took home the FIS World Cup victory while Australian Russ Henshaw took third. Goepper's two top-three finishes and two victories over the U.S. field make him mathematically untouchable going into the three remaining qualifiers. The rest of the athletes will attempt to join Goepper when the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix goes to Breckenridge Jan. 8-12.