It's been a long time since Valentino Guseli has been able to compete in a half-pipe.
But the snowboarding triple-threat phenom capped his World Cup return to the half-pipe with a bronze medal at Copper Mountain.
A year after suffering a serious knee injury at the Big Air in Beijing, Guseli impressed throughout the week in Colorado, scoring 79.95 in his first run before improving to 84.75 in the second to claim a 10th career World Cup podium.
His last World Cup half-pipe event was in February 2024 at the Calgary Snow Rodeo, which he won.
"It's really nice to be back up there," the 20-year-old said.
"I definitely did what I wanted to do which was basically just put down some runs and stamp my authority back in the half-pipe."
After dealing with sickness in the morning, Guseli said he was happy to get some solid runs down, including a new backside alley-oop 360.
"This wasn't the most technical run I've ever done," Guseli said.
"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 half-pipe."
Guseli has had a relatively slow start to the 2025/26 season.
His best result from the three big air competitions was 13th at the Big Air Shougang in Beijing. He finished 30th in Secret Garden and 46th in Steamboat sprints last week.
So the bronze here will be a welcome relief heading into the Milan 2026 Games, where he still aims to be the first man to compete in all three park and pipe disciplines.
"It's my first half-pipe comp of the season," Guseli said.
"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."
Guseli was the youngest male Australian competitor at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where he competed in the snowboard half-pipe as a 16-year-old, making the final and finishing sixth.
He went on to win the overall title
In the women's event, Australians Amelie Haskell finished 19th, Emily Arthur 27th, and Misaki Vaughan 28th.
The next snowboard half-pipe World Cup will take place in the new year in Calgary, Canada, on January 2.
