Australian snowboarder Valentino Guseli has snuck into the finals of the men’s snowboard big air event at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics after nailing a stunning trick in his last run during Thursday’s qualifiers.
The 20-year-old, who received a surprise eleventh-hour entry to the event after a rival competitor’s withdrawal, received 91.50 in his third and final run, the second-highest score of the evening, after pulling off a switchback 1980 on the slope, which includes five-and-a-half aerial spins. He threw his snowboard in the air with arms raised after completing the trick, bellowing in delight.
It was enough for Guseli, who scored a commendable 73.25 and 71.50 in the first two runs, to sneak into 12th place, with only the top 12 competitors advancing to Saturday’s final.
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Guseli, a three-time World Cup winner on the park and pipe circuit, was informed of his participation just hours before the qualifiers; he was already set to represent Australia in the half-pipe event at the Winter Games.
It comes after Canada’s Mark McMorris withdrew from the big air event due to injury, taken to hospital after a heavy fall in training on Wednesday evening. McMorris, a three-time Olympic medallist in slopestyle and three-time big air World Cup winner, was considered a podium contender.
In 2023, Guseli become the first man to ever win World Cup medals in all three park and pipe disciplines in a single season. He had hoped to represent Australia in all three disciplines, but initially failed to qualify for big air and slopestyle courtesy of an ACL injury he sustained in late 2024.
The men’s snowboard big air commences on Sunday at 5.30am AEDT.
OLYMPIC SKI JUMPING ‘PENIS INJECTION’ CLAIMS
Anti-doping chiefs at the Winter Olympics said on Thursday they would investigate bizarre claims that Olympic ski jumpers are injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to get a competitive advantage.
The claims, first reported in the German media, are based on the theory that adjustments to ski jumpers’ body suits, especially around the groin, can create the effect of a sail that can add metres to a jump.
Two Norwegians were given three-month suspensions last year after the team was found to have adjusted the seams of their suits around the crotch area at the 2025 World Ski Championships.
Marius Lindvik, who will seek to retain his Large Hill Olympic title at the Milan-Cortina Games, and another Olympic medallist, Johann Andre Forfang, were suspended even though both argued that the suits had been altered without their knowledge.
When Witold Banka, the Polish president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was asked about the penis injection claims in a news conference in Milan, he answered with a smile: “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I’m going to look at it.”
Olivier Niggli, WADA’s director general, said: “I’m not aware of the details of ski jumping — and how this can improve (performance) — but if anything was to come to the surface we would look at anything if it is actually doping-related.
“We don’t do other means of enhancing performance but our list committee would certainly look into whether this would fall into this category.”
German newspaper Bild last month quoted Kamran Karim, a senior physician at Maria-Hilf Hospital in Krefeld who said it was possible to create a “temporary, visual thickening of the penis through injections of paraffin or hyaluronic acid”.
He added: “However, lengthening is not possible in this way. Such injections are not medically indicated and are associated with risks.”
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