U.S. skiers go 1-2-3 in slopesyle

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia - A dead father. Some stray puppies. And an Indiana home.

On Thursday, the cool and edgy sport of slopestyle skiing got warm and fuzzy.

Three young American men swept the slopestyle podium. Though it was their sport's Olympic debut, the emotions that helped them land there have been around forever.

Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy, and Nicholas Goepper won, respectively, gold, silver, and bronze.

If they are as brash and quirky as most slopestyle skiers and snowboarders seem to be (See Kostenburg, Sage), it wasn't evident a few hours afterward.

They weren't wearing flags or even waving them. They weren't overly emotional or, in the jargon of their sport, mad-stoked. Instead, they talked softly about their country, their friends, and other things they care about.

Christensen, 22, lost his father six months ago. He carried J.D. Christensen's photo in his ski-pants' pocket on the gold medal-winning run down the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park course.

"I wish he was here," he said. "I hope he's smiling down on me. And I hope I made him proud."

Kenworthy, meanwhile, talked about his mountain-village apartment guests, the stray mother dog and four puppies he'd found. When he tweeted that story, hundreds of young women found Kenworthy.

"I guess a lot of girls like Olympians and puppies," he said.

Goepper, 19, didn't grow up near Park City like Christensen or Telluride like Kenworthy. There are no fancy ski resorts in Lawrenceburg, Ind.

"No matter how many accomplishments I have or how many medals I win," Goepper said, "the thing that I'm most proud of is telling everyone I'm from Indiana."

This was only the third time in Olympic history that three Americans had swept a winter event. It happened in men's figure-skating in 1956 and with half-pipe snowboarding in 2002.

Despite the history they made, the three were surprisingly subdued afterward, more reflective than exuberant, and as happy for each other and their freewheeling sport as themselves.

"To share the podium with two of my best friends next to me is an awesome way to showcase freestyle to the world and represent our country," said Kenworthy, 22.

Christensen said this was the best day of his life "and probably always will be."

"But I'm more than happy to share it with my good friends and fellow Americans," he said.

What added an extra dimension to Christensen's accomplishment was the fact that he'd struggled during the season and nearly didn't make the Olympic team, gaining his spot only as a discretionary pick.

"I didn't really think I was going to make it," he said.

Those difficulties might have been related to his father's illness and death.

In August, just before leaving for competition in New Zealand, he visited his father, fatally ill with congestive heart disease at a Utah hospital.

"Dad, I'm doing this for you," he told him. "I want you to be proud of me."

Landing in New Zealand, Christensen got the news of his 67-year-old father's passing.

"He really wanted me to make it here," he said. "I made this my goal."

At his heartfelt Olympic victory's conclusion, Christensen found his mother, Debbie, and the two briefly embraced.

"We were crying," he said. "But it all happened pretty fast. I'm sure it'll get harder once I see her again tonight."

What pushed him past his better-known competitors Thursday was a trick he mastered only days ago, a switch triple-cork 1260.

"I hadn't landed one until this trip," he said. "I kind of figured I was going to need one to get on the podium. I landed one three days ago in practice and once I got it down I knew I was going to try it."

The judges were impressed, awarding him a score of 95.80, enough to best Kenworthy (93.60) and Goepper (92.40).

The results were further proof of how important this slopestyle contingent - both skiing and snowboarding - has become to America's medal hopes at Sochi.

Through Thursday, slopestylers had won three of the four U.S. golds and six of its 12 overall medals.

"We're showcasing slopestyle to the world," said Goepper. "Back at the X Games a couple of weeks ago I told a reporter that I'd predicted a sweep here at Sochi. I'm glad that came true."

Goepper found the sport on a 300-foot hill, five minutes from his home. Since he could ski there only three or four months a year, he set up a makeshift course of AstroTurf and PVC pipe in his backyard.

"There's definitely still some rubble back there," he said. "But to sit back and realize I've come all the way to this stage from those humble beginnings, I'm super proud of that."

Maybe what was most remarkable about these three remarkable Americans was this: Even though they were competitors on the biggest sports stage in the world, they never saw themselves as anything but friends.

"Our sport always has an amazing level of camaraderie," said Goepper. "It's not like other sports where you're hoping for people to not do well."

It was really pretty simple, Christensen said.

"We're just a bunch of friends hoping to see each other do well and cheering for each other."

Today, in Indiana, Colorado, Utah, and the rest of a country that makes them all proud, the cheers are deafening.