Teen sensation Valentino Guseli has finished the snowboard season on a high, capturing a bronze medal at the World Cup slopestyle final in Silvaplana, Switizerland.
The medal is Guseli’s second of the season in slopestyle and shows what an amazing talent the 16-year-old is after placing sixth in the halfpipe discipline at the Beijing Olympic Games in February.
It was almost a double podium for Australia, with Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady just missing the podium in fourth place.
Guseli was one of the most consistent riders in the final, scoring 83.40 points on his first run, and then increased his score in the second run with 89.40 points to finish in third place. The top two spots on the podium went to Norway, with Marcus Kleveland taking the victory with his teammate Mons Roisland in second.
“My goal was to just land my runs and I knew that if I did that, I would be happy” said Guseli who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW south coast.
“I put all my mental and physical power into my first run just to make sure that I ended up on my feet at the end. Once I got my first run down, I knew that the only way I could go was up.
“On the next run I just went for it with some of the biggest tricks that I can do. I was super stoked to get to the bottom of that second run and was very happy to get third.
“That was the most heated slope style final that I’ve ever been in. As much as the boys were definitely throwing down it was a very upbeat and very positive vibe up there for sure.
“It’s been such a blast getting back into slopestyle, I have been doing it since I was young and to be back doing it again after just doing pipe for the start of this season has been very enjoyable.”
Guseli finished the FIS World Cup season ranked fourth overall on the slopestyle standings.
The medal is Guseli’s second of the season in slopestyle and shows what an amazing talent the 16-year-old is after placing sixth in the halfpipe discipline at the Beijing Olympic Games in February.
It was almost a double podium for Australia, with Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady just missing the podium in fourth place.
Guseli was one of the most consistent riders in the final, scoring 83.40 points on his first run, and then increased his score in the second run with 89.40 points to finish in third place. The top two spots on the podium went to Norway, with Marcus Kleveland taking the victory with his teammate Mons Roisland in second.
“My goal was to just land my runs and I knew that if I did that, I would be happy” said Guseli who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW south coast.
“I put all my mental and physical power into my first run just to make sure that I ended up on my feet at the end. Once I got my first run down, I knew that the only way I could go was up.
“On the next run I just went for it with some of the biggest tricks that I can do. I was super stoked to get to the bottom of that second run and was very happy to get third.
“That was the most heated slope style final that I’ve ever been in. As much as the boys were definitely throwing down it was a very upbeat and very positive vibe up there for sure.
“It’s been such a blast getting back into slopestyle, I have been doing it since I was young and to be back doing it again after just doing pipe for the start of this season has been very enjoyable.”
Guseli finished the FIS World Cup season ranked fourth overall on the slopestyle standings.
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