Snowboard halfpipe record-breaker Valentino Guseli plans to beat ultimate rival Shaun White at the Beijing Winter Olympics - here’s how

Aussie snowboard prodigy Valentino “Val” Guseli is heading into his first ever Winter Olympics at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have big plans.

It was just last year that the young gun broke the world record for the highest air out of a halfpipe - clearing a massive 24ft (7.3m). He was 15 years old.

Watch the video above to see Val Guseli break the halfpipe world record

Watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>

“I first started riding when I was three,” Guseli told 7NEWS.

“My parents were going to the snow since way before I was born and when I was old enough to stand and walk, they had a snowboard set up for me already.

“I just hopped on when I was three and I loved it from the start. And here we are.”

The record-setter started sending it big straight away - as is evident from his earliest memories of riding.

“I definitely remember riding down all the steepest and biggest hills in Australia with my dad and just having a ball,” he said.

“I used to rock this little orange onesie, which I wore when I rode down Mount Perisher with my dad.”

Val’s interest in skating and surfing also helped him progress his snowboarding skills.

Before moving to Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast aged 10, the youngster lived in Canberra where he regularly skated. He then picked up surfing.

“I skated a lot in my younger days when I lived in Canberra because that’s one of the only things you can do in Canberra. I now surf a bunch when I’m at home,” he said.

Three years after first strapping into a snowboard, Val started travelling overseas with his dad at the age of six.

“My first snowboarding competition was at an interschools race at Perisher when I was five years