Val Guseli lifts lid on his 'desire to inspire' as 11-year-old prodigy matures into gold medal triple threat

As a young kid with an insatiable appetite for daredevil activities, Valentino Guseli would jump on his trike, go in search of the longest and steepest hills, and hurl himself down at breakneck speed.

Nowadays, the big-smiling, curly-haired, thrill-seeking Aussie is an outrageously talented snowboarding pro with a hunger for high adrenaline matched by few on the elite scene.

Of the scores of rising stars competing in Italy at the Milano Cortina Olympics, few have captured the imagination of the winter sport world quite like Guseli.

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At the age of only 11, the prodigious talent from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast became the youngest snowboarder in history to successfully land a double backflip.

A day before his 16th birthday, he unleashed the highest air ever recorded on a snowboard out of a halfpipe, soaring 7.3 metres. The previous world record holder? American legend Shaun White, the greatest snowboarder of all time.

And at 19, he pulled off the highest snowboard air of any kind when he launched himself off a "hip jump" — in this case, an enormous ramp in the Swiss Alps — and ascended 11.53 metres.

"I had that kind of ambition [as a kid] and I still have that ambition now, to just go big, show what's possible and create new ceilings that are higher than the previous ones," Guseli told Wide World of Sports at a Red Bull media day during the build-up to the Olympics.

"It's just something I've always had is a desire to do well, a desire to inspire.

"Sounds like some kind of tagline for a brand or something," he added, smiling.

"I think doing cool stuff is cool."

Another bumper feat Guseli can lay claim to sums up how incredibly versatile he is: in the 2022-23 northern hemisphere winter, still only 17, he became the first athlete in history to medal in each of the big air, slopestyle and halfpipe disciplines in a single World Cup season.

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He claimed his maiden crystal globe that season, as the winner of the overall park and pipe standings.

Remarkably, he tried to qualify for the Milano Cortina Olympics in each of the big air, slopestyle and halfpipe events. No male snowboarder has contested all three park and pipe disciplines at an Olympic Games.

And he declared publicly that he not only wanted to qualify in all three, but win gold in all three.

Originally, he only made the cut in the halfpipe, cruelled by an ACL rupture in December 2024 that sidelined him for a huge number of qualifying opportunities.

Then came a wild series of events: Canadian medal shot Mark McMorris suffered a brutal crash in training, Guseli earned an 11th-hour call-up for big air qualifying, and with one mind-bending trick on his final run the Aussie prodigy snatched a spot in the 12-man final.

On Sunday morning (AEDT), he shoots for big air gold.

In the halfpipe, Guseli will go toe-to-toe with Aussie teammate Scotty James, the winner of the past five X Games halfpipe titles and the favourite for Olympic gold.

Guseli, now 20, is making his second Olympic appearance at these Games, four years after finishing sixth in the halfpipe in Beijing.

There's a slogan he says to himself before competing.

"If I want this enough, I will make it happen," he said.

"It really puts the ball in my court, it tells me that I'm in control."

Deep breaths follow, and he then dials up the intensity.

"I beat my chest before I drop in, Wolf of Wall Street style kind of," he said, wide-eyed and smiling.

"That's my switch to go from just chilling at the top, just being a normal person, to being a highly tuned machine ready to go and dominate."

How does the flow state feel for Guseli?

"It's beautiful," he said.

"It's weightless, it's silent, it's peaceful.

"If you don't get it right it's not super peaceful because you know you're going to come down and get pretty axed.

"But when you get it right, just that feeling of looking down and seeing the world below — I've felt it a few times and it's a pretty crazy feeling where everything just falls into place.

"At the last Olympics, on my last trick of my third run, I did a frontside 1440, which was a trick that at that point was pretty hard for me, and in the middle of it, my brain was fully empty. Then I just like landed, and I didn't have to do anything."

A few nights prior to the interview with Wide World of Sports, Guseli had watched F1 the Movie.

It was fresh in his mind.

"Brad Pitt talks about the flow state," he recalled.

"Everything slows down, and it's like you're flying."

This Olympic Games, being in Italy, is particularly special for Guseli, who through his grandparents on his dad's side has Italian heritage.

His nonno and nonna, as Guseli calls them, run a nursery and cafe in Bodalla, a short drive from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

The cafe's name? Valentino's.

"It's a massive part of my life," he said of his Italian heritage.

"I'm super proud to say that I'm half Italian as well as Australian.

"I represent Australia, but I also represent my Italian heritage."

When his globe-trotting schedule permits, he swings into the cafe and offers a helping hand.

How does he rate his barista skills?

"I got a pretty nice love heart the other day," Guseli smiled, holding up a photo on his phone.

"I was happy with it, but I want to get better."