'Stamp my authority': Valentino Guseli claims World Cup bronze in return from knee injury
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A year after a major knee injury, Australian snowboarding star Valentino Guseli is back on the podium.
Guseli, 20, made a triumphant return to the halfpipe, clinching bronze at Copper Mountain on Saturday (AEDT). It marks his first competition since being sidelined by a knee injury 12 months ago.
Hailing from Dalmeny on the NSW south coast, Guseli ruptured his ACL at a World Cup event in Beijing last December.
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Valentino Guseli secures a bronze medal in his World Cup halfpipe return at Copper Mountain. FIS/Andrew Wevers
However, showing no signs of rust, Guseli cruised through the qualifiers. He placed second in heat two with a score of 77.83, comfortably advancing to the final.
Guseli delivered two impressive performances in the best-of-two-run final. After opening with a 79.95, he stepped up his second run to score 84.75, clinching the bronze and marking the tenth World Cup podium of his career.
Both runs featured a stylish backside alley-oop 360, cab double cork 1080, frontside 1260, backside double cork 1260 and a frontside 1440 — all executed with a clean grab.
Speaking afterwards, Guseli reflected on his successful return to competition.
"It's really nice to be back up there, I definitely did what I wanted to do, which was basically just put down some runs and stamp my authority back in the halfpipe," he said.
"The biggest factor today was how sick I felt in the morning during training. I was happy I was able to get through that, and then the main thing was just really focusing on my runs and putting them down, and I was able to get that done.
Australian snowboard star Valentino Guseli has made a triumphant return to the world stage. FIS/ Andrew Wevers
"This wasn't the most technical run I've ever done, but I have a new addition to it, the backside alley-oop 360, which, in my opinion, is a pretty cool trick; it brings something fresh and exciting back into halfpipe."
"It's my first halfpipe comp of the season, I'm going to have some time to train now and put some time into getting these bigger tricks, so by the time the Olympic Games come around, I'm ready to take it."
Japan dominated the top of the podium, with Ryusei taking gold with a score of 94.50, while his teammate Yuto Totsuka secured the silver with 90.50.
Guseli first captured the nation's attention at his debut Olympic Games, Beijing 2022, where he finished sixth in the halfpipe as a 16-year-old.
The result made him the only Australian under the age of 18 to ever record a top-10 finish at a Winter Olympics in any sport.
Valentino Guseli in action at Beijing 2022. Clive Rose/Getty Images
The bronze medal at Copper Mountain is just the starting point for Guseli's season.
With the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics fast approaching, Guseli plans to use the upcoming training blocks to reintroduce the high-level technical tricks he is known for, including the 1440s and triple corks that will be essential for standout performances at the Games.
Guseli is currently in the process of qualifying and aims to make history as the first person to compete in three separate snowboard disciplines at a single Olympics: halfpipe, slopestyle and big air.
While he is a primary contender for the Australian team, Olympic qualification is determined by a cumulative process that runs until January 18, 2026.
Guseli will spend the coming weeks competing in the remaining World Cup events — including stops in Aspen and Laax — to solidify his world ranking.
In the women's event, Australians Amelie Haskell (19th), Emily Arthur (27th) and Misaki Vaughan (28th) also competed but did not progress to the final.
