Aussie halfpipe rider Guseli gets unexpected chance for an Olympic medal in another event, big air

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) - It seems only right that the snowboarder with the reputation as his sport's highest flyer has a chance to win an Olympic medal in the event called big air.

Valentino Guseli, an Australian whose grandparents are from Italy, is mostly known as a halfpipe rider. He made it into the big air lineup by chance - he got in because Canadian Mark McMorris bowed out with an injury - but parlayed that into a spot in the medal round on Saturday.

"It's been a while since I've put anything decent down in a big air comp, so I'll take it," Guseli said. "And it's a perfect time to do it."

He grabbed the last spot in qualifying, pumping energy into an otherwise mellow night at the snowpark Thursday night, treating his 12th-place finish like a victory. A snowboard buddy, Jonas Hasler of Switzerland, hoisted the 20-year-old Guseli onto his shoulders once his spot in the final was secured.

Guseli, who made it into the Olympic halfpipe final four years ago at 16, is considered a medal contender in that event again. Before his 16th birthday, he jumped 7.3 meters (24 feet) out of the halfpipe, breaking a record long held by Shaun White.

When he found out he might have a spot in big air, Guseli said he went over to a minipark in Livigno to work on jumps. Hours later, when McMorris was officially scratched, Guseli said he got a total of eight training runs in the hour before the contest started.

Good enough, it turns out, and maybe not a total surprise.

He has World Cup big air victories in his past (2022) and had even entered a few of those contests in the lead-up to Milan Cortina, which played into him receiving the last-minute spot. His goal of qualifying for halfpipe, slopestyle and big air was slowed, however, by a knee injury last year.

It's pretty tough to keep up with this level," he said after his return to the 50-meter hill.

But all he was looking for was a chance. He got that, along with some extra motivation because he took a spot that had belonged to McMorris.

"I knew that with me having that spot, and receiving it from one of the greatest snowboarders of all time, I wanted to do something special with it," he said. "Me and my dad have a term for it, it's like giving every situation the 'correct ingredients'. And I guess we gave every situation today the correct ingredients and we got the job done."