Teen snowboard prodigy and NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Valentino Guseli has claimed the silver medal in an incredible halfpipe performance at Bakuriani, Georgia, taking home his first ever world championship medal.

After battling injury all week which forced Valentino to miss the slopestyle and big air events, the 17-year-old pushed on to win Australia’s fifth medal at the world championships.

In the best of three run final, Valentino fell on his first run, but improved to score 83.25 points on his second run, then stepped it up in the final run adding a cab-triple-1440 to score a huge 93 points, narrowly missing victory by just half a point to fellow teenager Chaeun Lee of Korea. Rounding out the podium in third place was Swiss rider Jan Scherrer with 89.25.

Three-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Scotty James just missed recording his fifth career world championship medal , finishing in fifth place with his best score of 86.50 points coming in his second run.

“I am pretty stoked, considering that a week ago I was crawling around my apartment not sure if I was going to be able to do anything here, I am really happy,” said Valentino who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“The cab-triple-1440 was a trick I learnt in November, and I have been struggling a little bit with it all year, I perfected it a week before coming here training in Laax, Switzerland, landing five in a row and felt really comfortable with them.”

“All of my success this year has been a process, I obviously wanted that the first year I was at World Cup riding at this level three years ago, but it’s been a process figuring everything out and happy to be finally trying to match it with the best in the world.”

“I grew up watching Scotty James, and now to be almost at a level where kids look up to me the same is pretty amazing.”

“If you want it enough you will make it happen, it’s all heart, put your heart into it and you will get it.”

Article and image courtesy of OWIA

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