Valentino Guseli: the 16-year-old Australian tipped for surprise medal in men's snowboard halfpipe final

Valentino Guseli is a snowboard phenomenon from Australia and will join the sport’s big names like Scotty James, Shaun White, and Hirano Ayumu in the men’s halfpipe final at Beijing 2022.

Making his Olympic Winter Games debut, the 16-year-old crashed in his first run in qualifying on Wednesday 9 February, before putting down a strong run of 85.75 to qualify in fifth.

“That was the run that I was trying to land on the first run, and I just made a little mistake that I've never made on that trick, ever,” he told the Australian Olympic Committee after his second qualifying run.

It puts Guseli in an enviable position to win a medal, and he will subsequently start fifth-last in the final on Friday, 11 February, at Genting Snow Park, ahead of only White, Hirano Ayumu, compatriot James, and Hirano Ruka.

“I just tried to stay as calm as I could after the first run when I made that little mistake and you know," Guseli added.

"I stepped away from the halfpipe and did a couple of groomer laps with my coach and just pushed the camp away for a second and just reset. And then when I went back up to the top, I was ready to start my next run and very, very happy that I stomped it.”

Born in 2005, Guseli is in the thick of his idols like James, who carried Australia’s flag at the Opening Ceremony of PyeongChang and won a bronze medal behind gold medallist White and silver medallist Hirano in those 2018 Games.

But it’s a position the teenager is becoming quite used to, as he sets his own marks, including breaking a world record of five-time Olympian and three-time gold medallist White.

In 2021, the day before his 16th birthday, Guseli broke White’s world record for the highest air out of the pipe – 7.3 metres - while competing in Laax.

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