VALENTINO GUSELI
Olympic Winter Games Attended
BIOGRAPHY
Valentino Guseli has been regarded as one of the best young talents in Australia for years, and is now regarded in the same way on the global scene following his breakthrough performance at the 2019 US Open Junior Jam in Vail, CO, USA.
Guseli dominated the field to take home the gold medal with a score of 96.99 points, over four points clear of the second place finisher. The win also gave Guseli a start in the open event against the best riders in the world, including Australian superstar and eventual winner, Scotty James. It was not the first podium performance for Guseli at the event, having claimed the silver medal in 2018. Guseli made his World Cup debut in January 2021 in Laax, Switzerland. It was a spectacular debut event by the 15-year-old snowboarding prodigy, who shocked the winter sports world by blitzing the field in qualifying for finals in first place. In the final, Guseli finished in eighth place, an amazing result in his first ever World Cup. Guseli also made his World Championship debut in Aspen, USA, finishing in 11th place, very unlucky not to advance to the 10-man final. On March 31 2021, Guseli set the record for the biggest ever air out of a halfpipe, boosting an incredible 7.3 metres above the coping in Laax, Switzerland, breaking the previous record of 7 metres set by the legendary Shaun White in 2010. Guseli has had a number of promising results in the 2021-2022 season, starting off with a sixth place finish at the Dew Tour in Copper Mountain, USA, and then a personal best World Cup finish of fifth in Laax, Switzerland. On the back of his performances in the past 12 months, Guseli was invited to make his debut at the X-Games in Aspen, USA, finishing in sixth place. Competing at his first Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Guesli was also the youngest member of the Australian Team, but he showed incredible poise beyond his years to make an impressive debut performance. Guseli put down three clean runs in the final. with a best score of 79.75 ranking him in an incredible sixth place at his first games appearance. Showcasing his talent, Guseli focused on the slopestyle discipline after Beijing with great success, capturing a silver medal in Bakuriani, Georgia, and a bronze medal in a much stronger field at the World Cup event in Silvaplana, Switzerland. In the 2022-2023 season, Guseli has created history to become only the fourth snowboarder to podium in all three park and pipe disciplines of big air, slopestyle and halfpipe, and the first rider to ever achieve the feat in the one season after a double podium performance in Mammoth Mountain, USA. Guseli’s other World Cup podium performance this season came in December with a big air gold medal in Edmonton, Canada, and he also won his first ever X-Games medal with a bronze in Aspen, USA. With each discipline becoming so specialised, Guseli’s achievement is truly extraordinary at just 17-yers-of-age, as no other rider is capable of performing in more than one event at such a high level. At the World Cup in Calgary, Canada, Guseli made it back-to-back halfpipe silver medals, with another second place performance. Guseli claimed the silver medal in an incredible halfpipe performance at Bakuriani, Georgia, taking home his first ever World Championship medal. After battling injury all week which forced Guseli to miss the slopestyle and big air events, Guseli pushed on to win Australia’s fifth medal at the World Championships. In the best of three run final, Guseli fell on his first run, but improved to score 83.25 points on his second run, then stepped it up in the final run adding a cab-triple-1440 to score a huge 93 points, narrowly missing victory by just half a point to fellow teenager Chaeun Lee of Korea. Rounding out the podium in third place was Swiss rider Jan Scherrer with 89.25. On the final standings Guseli also won the Crystal Globe in big air, was second in halfpipe and third in slopestyle and crowned first overall in the overall snowboard rankings across all park & pipe disciplines. In the 2023-2024 season, the teen snowboard sensation resumed right where he left off with another incredible season, defending his overall park and pipe World Cup Crystal Globe, along with collecting three more World Cup podiums and his first halfpipe World Cup win. His first podium came in the halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland, where he joined teammate Scotty James in a historic gold and silver medal performance for Australia, with James in first and Guseli in second. This was the first time Australia has taken out the top two spots in the sport. In a spectacular final under lights, both James and Guseli put down two great runs with both riders displaying huge amplitude, style and super difficult tricks. Guseli scored 90 points on his first run, and then in the final round stepped it up performing a trick that had never been landed in competition, landing a frontside 1620 tailgrab to score 92.25 points and finish in second place. The next event for Guseli was World Cup in Calgary, Canada, where he recorded his first career victory in the halfpipe, with an impressive gold medal performance. In the best of three fun final, the NSWIS rider lead from start to finish, with the highest scoring opening round run with 89.25 points, and then went even better in the second run increasing his score to 91.50. When no other riders were able to match Guseli’s scores from the first two runs, Guseli was able to complete a “victory lap” in the third and final run celebrating with the large crowd on his way down the Calgary halfpipe. The final FIS Snowboard World Cup of the season was a slopestyle event in Silvaplana, Switzerland, with Guseli recording his first podium of the season in that discipline at the perfect time, with a bronze medal performance on the final day of the season, dramatically snatching the overall park and pipe Crystal Globe. Heading into the final day of competition for the season, Guseli needed to finish well ahead of Japanese rider Ryoma Kimata who had a significant lead in the standings, to defend the historic title he won last year as a 17-year-old. In qualifying, Kimata had his worst performance of the season finishing in 50th, with Gueli advancing to the final in first place, which meant he would need to finish in fourth place or better to move into first place and take the Crystal Globe. In the best of two fun final, Guseli was consistent on both runs, opening with a score of 77.31, and then improved in the second run, receiving a score of 83.77 points from the judges to give him third place and enough points to secure back-to-back overall Crystal Globes. “I am super stoked with the way today went, in my second run I landed one of the best runs of my life” said the 18-year-old from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast. “To win the overall, which means to be the most consistent out of all three freestyle disciplines, I am honoured to have won it for the second year in a row.” “This season has been an interesting one, there has been lots of ups and downs, but I definitely feel like I have learned a lot this year, and I am super happy with where my snowboarding is right now.” Guseli now has nine career World Cup medals competing in the three park and pipe disciplines of halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air, and three Crystal Globes. Q & AProudest moment:
Winning US Open Junior Jam in 2019 I began my sport in ... Perisher at 3 years old, 2008. When I am not training or competing I am: Playing my guitar, surfing and constantly catching up school work I enjoy my sport because ... Snowboarding is so much fun and I can constantly progress and push myself Favourite international competition: US Open Favourite Food: Burritos Favourite Music: Metallica. Led Zeppelin, Faith No More, Pink Floyd, Favourite other sport to watch or play: Surfing, skateboarding and lawn bowls LINKSOWIA News Search: Additional Links:
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