Bergoust, who practiced the aerials discipline, began training with the US Freestyle Team in Lake Placid in the summer of 1988 , although he was not a member of the squad at that time. In the winter of 1988/89 he therefore only took part in Nor-Am competitions, which he dominated with one exception and finally won the national championship for the first time. On December 17, 1989, he made his World Cup debut in La Plagne, France , but initially only placed himself in the midfield of the competition. With the help of the US trainer Wayne Hilterbrand, Bergoust improved continuously. Already in his fifth World Cup participation he reached the top 10 in eighth place in Iizuna Kōgen, Japan. However , he had to wait until December 1991 until his first podium finish, when he finally had to admit defeat only to his compatriot Trace Worthington in Zermatt . About a month later, Bergoust won his first World Cup competition in Breckenridge . In the remaining competitions he always placed in the top ten, so that he finished the 1991/92 season on a strong sixth place in the Aerials classification.
In April 1993 he and Nick Bass analyzed his jumping technique, which they wanted to improve from then on in a three-year plan. The implementation could not be expected immediately, but Bergoust was able to convince every now and then. For example, he won his second World Cup victory in the Swiss municipalities of Meiringen and Hasliberg in March 1994. He also achieved a good result with seventh place at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer . In the 1995/96 season he took third place in the overall Aerials ranking. Bergout had to struggle with injuries repeatedly in his career. In addition to several broken bones, his severe knee injury from 1993 and his back injury in 1995 stand out. In 1997 his collarbone splintered into six pieces. Even so, he always returned to the World Cup circus. At the Freestyle Skiing World Championships in 1997 in Iizuna Kogen, he won the silver medal behind the Canadian Nicolas Fontaine .
In the 1997-98 season started Bergoust early August in the Australian Mount Buller with a victory on the second day of competition. In the further course of the season he won two more competitions. The highlight, however, was the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano . On the Olympic Aerials Hill in Iizuna Kogen, Bergoust presented himself in top form and delivered what was probably the most memorable competition of his career. With 255.64 points, he won the gold medal ahead of Sébastien Foucras and Dzmitryj Daschtschynski . In March 1999 he added a world title to this title at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships in Meiringen-Hasliberg.
He showed his best performance in the World Cup in the years 2000 to 2002, when he won the Aerials classification twice and the overall World Cup once . At the 2001 World Championships in Whistler , however, he just missed the medal ranks in fourth. His last World Cup victory was in Lake Placid at the end of January 2002.
United States
Meiringen-Hasliberg
Tignes
Kirchberg
Mount Buller
Blackcomb
Piancavallo
1994 Lillehammer
1998 Nagano
