Soaring seven metres above a snowboard halfpipe lip would terrify most people.
For Canberra-born teenager Valentino Guseli, it’s where he finds peace.
The 16-year-old will line up in Friday’s Olympic final alongside legends of the sport such as his teammate Scotty James and American Shaun White, who has three gold medals from four Games appearances and is set to retire after his fifth.
Just making the final is a massive achievement for the youngster, but Guseli isn’t setting any limits on how high he can fly.
Last year, he took White’s world record for the highest vertical, reaching 7.3 metres.
“It feels like flying, really like just looking down on the halfpipe and as much as it is very dangerous, it’s a very peaceful place up there,” Guseli said.
“You know, you have to be very at peace with yourself to be able to go up there because if there’s one little mistake it can be not very fun.”
After watching the Australians in action in the snowboard cross on Thursday, Guseli trudged across to the bottom of the pipe and stood looking up.
He then sank to his knees, as if to pray to the Olympic gods for a clean run on Friday.
Guseli qualified for the final in fifth spot after rebounding from an error in his first run, with James lauding his prodigious ability.
James himself made his Olympic debut as a 15-year-old in Vancouver in 2010, but finished 21st.
Now 27, James welcomed the arrival of Guseli giving the Australian contingent a serious two-pronged attack on the international scene.
“Val’s awesome, he’s a super talented kid,” said gold medal favourite James.
“He came out here, his first Olympics and he’s made finals so it kind of speaks for itself.
“He’s got a smile on his face which I always really appreciate – he’s a nice kid and we have a good relationship and it’s exciting for Australian snowboarding to also have him too.
“I’m stoked to see it.”
Guseli was born in Canberra and lived in the nation’s capital for 10 years before moving to Dalmeny in NSW.
His parents started taking him snowboarding at around the age of 3 at Perisher where he quickly fell in love with the sport.
Today’s final begins at 12.30pm (AEDT) and is split into three runs.
- Run 1: 12:30pm
- Run 2: 12:58pm
- Run 3: 1:25pm
The full list of qualifiers for the final is below, along with their best score:
- Ayumu Hirano (JPN) 93.25
- Scotty James (AUS) 91.25
- Ruka Hirano (JPN) 87.00
- Shaun White (USA) 86.25
- Valentino Guseli (AUS) 85.75
- Totsuka Yuto (JPN) 84.50
- Taylor Gold (USA) 83.50
- Jan Scherrer (SUI) 79.25
- Kaishu Hirano (JPN) 77.25
- Andre Hoeflich (GER) 75.00
- Patrick Burgener (SUI) 73.00
- Chase Josey (USA) 69.50
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
