Canberra-born snowboard sensation Valentino Guseli has had a breakthrough win, becoming the first Australian to take out a big air World Cup round.
At 17, he is the youngest Australian to win a men’s World Cup round in any winter sport.
He placed sixth in the halfpipe at the Beijing Olympics and now has won medals in the big air and slopestyle disciplines.
After finishing fourth in qualifying at Edmonton, he rallied from a poor first jump to claim the final with his second and third attempts.
Guseli had a combined score of 172.50, edging out Chris Corning of the United States by half a point as Canadian Nicolas Laframboise took third with 168 points.
“Oh my goodness, I am so hyped right now,” Guseli said.
“I woke up this morning and was just really hoping that I could put my tricks down today, and now I am just so relieved and happy.
“It’s been a long and very bumpy road the last three years trying to work my way to some podiums and I have finally got a win, and I am so hyped, I am hoping to just keep it rolling.”
Guseli was born in Canberra and lived in the nation’s capital for 10 years before moving to Dalmeny on the NSW south coast.
His parents started taking him snowboarding at around the age of 3 at Perisher where he quickly fell in love with the sport.
Meanwhile, Jakara Anthony has continued her dazzling start to the freestyle skiing season, winning her second World Cup moguls title in the space of a week in Scandinavia.
Australia’s Olympic champion Anthony, rapidly becoming one of the most dominant athletes in any winter sport, took Saturday’s title in the Swedish resort of Idre Fjall just seven days after prevailing in Ruka, Finland.
Starting the season with two straight wins, 24-year-old Anthony, who dominated at the Beijing Olympics in February to be crowned Australia’s sole champion there, will go for a hat-trick in Sunday’s opening dual moguls.
“It’s a wild way to kick off the season with back-to-back wins here and in Ruka,” said Anthony, who’s already overwhelming favourite to successfully defend her crystal globe as overall World Cup moguls champ.
“I’m really proud how I’ve been able to progress over the days I’ve been here on the course.
“There’s been a lot of figuring out to do, a lot of changes to make and I think I’m making progress in the right direction.”
Anthony scored 81.75 to finish 1.73 points clear of Japanese teenager Anri Kawamura, who looks set to be the Cairns athlete’s biggest challenger after making seven podiums from eight events last season.
In the overall standings, Anthony has a maximum 200 points with 2018 Olympic champion Perrine Laffont, who was third in Idre Fjall, equal second with Kawamura on 140.
Anthony hopes to extend her lead in the duals event in which pairs of athletes compete in head-to-head elimination rounds.
“Duals is wild,” she said. “Coming in off winning the tour last year, it’s going to be really exciting.”
In Saturday’s equivalent men’s event, Aussies Matt Graham (77.53) and Cooper Woods (76.55) finished sixth and seventh respectively as young American moguls prospect Nick Page caused a shock by beating six-time world champion Mikael Kingsbury to record his first World Cup victory.
