Australian snowboarder Valentino Guseli was only given a spot in big air qualifying at the 2026 Winter Olympics at the last minute.
And he left it until his final leap to soar into Saturday night's final as the 12th and final qualifier with a stunning final jump at the Livigno Snow Park on Thursday night.
Sitting outside the top 12 after the first two rounds with scores of 73.25 and 71.50 for tricks based on four-and-a-half full rotations, the 20-year-old sent it to the moon with his final effort, adding a full extra rotation to score 91.50 with a switch backside 1980 tail grab.
With the top two scores combined to give a total, Guseli snuck into the top 12 just a single point ahead of Norwegian Marcus Kleveland.
Guseli was given the chance to compete due to Canadian Mark McMorris's late withdrawal after he needed to be assisted off the mountain and taken to hospital after a heavy fall in training on Wednesday night.
The 32-year-old Canadian caught his edge after landing in what was described as a "freak accident" by Canadian authorities.
A three-time Olympic medallist in slopestyle and three-time big air World Cup winner, McMorris had been among the contenders for a medal.
But McMorris and Canada's pain is Australia's gain, with 20-year-old two-time Olympian earning a surprise bonus event at the 11th hour.
Guseli, a three-time World Cup winner on the park and pipe circuit, including in big air at Edmonton in 2022, had already qualified for the snowboard half pipe event and, in 2022/23, become the first man to ever win World Cup medals in all three park and pipe disciplines in a single season.
The 20-year-old had, as a result, hoped to qualify for all three park and pipe events for Milano Cortina, but was stymied due to an injury-curtailed qualification period.
Guseli's entry into the competition was made possible as he had already qualified in the half pipe competition, as well having recorded a top 30 performance on the World Cup circuit in big air this season.
His best finishing position in a big air event this season was 13th in Beijing in December.
Now he is going to better that, with his second final appearance in as many Olympic events in his short career. He finished sixth in the half pipe in Beijing.
McMorris is expected to make a full recovery and take his place in the slopestyle later in the week.
"He did a trick that he landed and unfortunately caught some loose snow, caught his heel edge and had a hard fall," Canadian official Brendan Matthews said.
"If it's Mark and he's not getting up right away, he's taken a pretty hard fall, because he's as tough as they come.
"He was taken with our medical team and the Canadian Olympic Committee medical team to the local hospital for a full round of testing and was released.
"It's always looks scary when somebody takes a hard fall like that, but all things considered, it's good news. Mark wishes to thank everybody for the outpouring of support and concern"
Guseli knows all about the risks of big air. It was at the Beijing big air where he suffered a knee injury in 2024 that ruled him out for that season.
