It’s not very often that a boyhood dream gets fulfilled when that boy is… still a boy.
That’s the case for a 16 year old from the South Coast who will be representing Australia at the Winter Games in Beijing on Wednesday (February 9).
Dalmeny Snowboarder, Valentino Guseli, (pronounced Ga-zelli, not Ja-zelli) will be lining up in the Men’s Halfpipe event for his Olympic debut on Wednesday afternoon and he told East Coast Radio he can’t wait.
“I’m super excited,” Guseli said.
“You could say I’ve been training for this my whole life, since I started snowboarding,” he said.
Listen below to the young snowboarder Valentino Guseli chat with East Coast Radio journalist James Fennessy.
“It’s awesome to be here, I’ve been watching the Olympics since I was super young, so to compete and represent my country is a dream come true.”
If Valentino makes it through the first qualification event, something his camp from Dalmeny will have all fingers and toes crossed for, he will make it through to the final of the Men’s Halfpipe on Friday (February 11).
Valentino’s dad, Rick Guseli is confident with his boy’s chances in Beijing.
“Knowing the field that Val’s against, Val basically just needs to land a run and he’ll be through to finals,” Mr Guseli said.
“Fingers crossed, he’s got two chances but if he lands one run I think we’ll see him competing on Friday,” he said.
“I would love to see a gold medal and it’s definitely possible.”
The Guseli clan with be watching Valentino’s first qualifying event on the big screen with a local cohort of friends and supporters at Big Niles Brewing Co in Dalmeny on Wednesday afternoon.
Image Credit: Valentino Guseli / Instagram
