The US Destroys Everyone In A Historic Slopestyle Podium Sweep
The U.S. won gold, silver, and bronze in the first-ever men's slopestyle skiing competition on Thursday.
Underdog Joss Christensen took gold, Gus Kentworthy took silver, and Nick Goepper, the favorite coming into the event, took bronze.
Riders have been critical of the slopestyle course all week. They've called it "sketchy" and "dangerous" with "obnoxiously tall" kickers. There have been a number of nasty crashes.
But Americans have dominated the events, winning three of four golds, and six of the 12 total medals across four competitions.
It's been a shaky start for the U.S. in Sochi, but slopestyle has been the lone bright spot.
In addition to today' sweep, Devin Logan won silver in women's slopestyle skiing, Sage Kotsenburg won gold in men's slopestyle snowboarding, and Jamie Anderson won gold in women's slopestyle snowboarding.
Sweeps are rare at the Winter Olympics. Sweeps by Americans are even rarer.
The U.S. has swept 150 podiums at the Summer Olympics, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, but just three in the Winter games. The last one came in 2002 in the men's halfpipe.
In total, there have only been 42 podium sweeps in Winter Olympics history.
They were pumped:
