Canberran's Big Finish in Halfpipe at Winter Olympics
Valentino Guseli just wanted to go big. And while he nailed his third and final run, his score of 88.0 wasn't enough to land him on the podium of the men's halfpipe at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Fifth-Place Finish for Canberra Snowboarder
Canberra's Valentino Guseli almost made it onto the podium, finishing fifth in the men's halfpipe. While the 20-year-old looked disappointed when his score flashed up on the screen, it didn't take long for him to get over it and he was quickly back to his bubbly self.
A fifth-place finish in his first Winter Olympics is nothing to be sneezed at, with compatriot Scotty James (93.5) taking home silver behind Japan's Yuto Totsuka (95.0). Ryusei Yamada (92.0) completed the podium at the Games.
Landing the Biggest Air
Guseli said he was happy to have at least landed the biggest air in the men's halfpipe final, having been unable to complete his opening two runs. "You always want to put on a show, especially if you don't win," he told Channel Nine. "But it was a great night. I landed one of the best runs I've ever landed, which is always a good thing."
"And I think I had the highest air of the night. So I'll take that. That's a massive win. The philosophy I have in snowboarding is to go as big as I can and I'm happy that I did that tonight."
Putting All Eggs in the Amplitude Basket
He was also stoked to have given everything he could during the final. It was just over a year ago that he wrecked his knee during a training crash, requiring a reconstruction to repair his anterior cruciate ligament.
"I don't really have more tricks comfortable enough to do up there, or at least tonight I didn't, and so I kind of tried to put all my eggs in the amplitude basket," Guseli said. "The first and second run the speed got ahead of me and I just lost it. But whatever."
Craziest Level of Halfpipe Snowboarding
The Canberra product felt the quality of the final led to everyone pushing themselves to the limit. That accounted for the high number of incomplete runs, with even James - who has now won a medal at each of the past three Winter Games - unable to nail two of his three attempts.
"As I kind of expected, it was the craziest level of halfpipe snowboarding of all time," Guseli said. "Lots of us actually didn't put down runs just because we're pushing so hard."
"When it's something like this, everyone wants to win, and we all jumped the gun a little bit. Even Scotty, he didn't get his first run, pushed really hard and unfortunately didn't get his last one either."
Potential Slopestyle Call-Up
It might not be the end of Guseli's Olympics either. He's still a chance of competing in the men's slopestyle, which starts on Tuesday, if he gets a late call-up. Guseli competed in the men's big air due to an injury to Mark McMorris, but the Canadian has been cleared to compete in slopestyle after initially being in doubt.
But the young Aussie hasn't given up hope. "I might see you in slopestyle," he said.
