Nick Goepper: Top things to know about Team USA freestyle skier

Nick Goepper will undoubtedly be looking forward to competing in the men's freeski slopestyle final on Wednesday (16 February).

The Team USA athlete has already had one big event to get invested in while in Beijing: the Super Bowl.

He had initially been scheduled to miss out on watching the NFL showpiece, in which his beloved Cincinnati Bengals were competing in the title game for the first time in his lifetime, but a rescheduling meant he was able to watch.

“I think if I timed it right, I could watch the first half before doing practice for slopestyle qualification,” Goepper had told USA Sports Today before the rescheduling. “But I don’t know if the Bengals are sucking if that’s gonna affect my performance, so it’s sort of a risk.”

He had then concluded: “I think I’m going to opt out of paying attention to the game on qualification day and just praying that they win.”

However, heavy snowfall and a lack of visibility led to a postponement on Sunday 13 February that impacted all the freeski slopestyle events.

While it meant athletes had to wait longer to compete, it did mean Goepper was able to tune into the Bengals' biggest match he has ever seen without concern that it could impact his own performance - even if they were eventually beaten 23-20 by the Los Angeles Rams.

Goepper has already competed in the big air, eventually coming 22nd.

The American has shown plenty of intent in the slopestyle ahead of the final, which is now being held on Wednesday 16 February.

He only finished behind Andri Ragettli (SUI) and Birk Ruud (NOR) in qualifying, something he will be hoping to better in the final.

This comes with the 27-year-old having won bronze in the slopestyle at Sochi 2014 and silver at PyeongChang 2018 - perhaps he will