Australian snowboarding sensation Valentino Guseli has revealed he will spend an extended period of time on the sidelines after injuring his anterior crucial ligament (ACL).
The 19-year-old fell during qualifying for the FIS World Cup snowboard big air event at the Shougang Big Air in Beijing earlier this month.
Guseli felt he had tweaked his knee in the fall, but scans have revealed an ACL injury.
"ACL gone," he wrote in an Instagram post.
"Seeyas in a bit."
The injury takes Guseli out of action just over a year out from the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, where he had hoped to qualify in all three snowboard disciplines: half-pipe, slopestyle and big air.
In February 2023, he became the first male snowboarder to win World Cup medals in all three park and pipe disciplines in the same season.
Guseli, who made his Olympic debut as a 16-year-old in Beijing where he competed in the half pipe, has won three crystal globes as World Cup series winner.
Assuming he heals successfully, the injury will not rule him out of the 2026 Olympics.
He could take inspiration from fellow Beijing Olympian Tess Coady, who recovered from her own ACL injury at the 2018 Games to win a magnificent bronze in the slopestyle four years later, when she also competed in the big air.
Coady was one of the first of many to send support publicly to Guseli, replying with "Heal up quick!!" on his post.
There was more positive news in China for Guseli's teammate from Beijing, Scotty James, who pulled out a stunning performance with his third run to win World Cup silver on the half-pipe at Secret Garden in Zhangjiakou.
Sitting 10th heading into the final run, the two-time Olympic medallist produced a sublime technical run to leap into second place.
The run, scoring 88.25, was not enough to overhaul Japanese rider Yuto Totsuka, who won with a score of 95.50.
James also won silver on this half-pipe at the 2022 Games.
Ayumu Hirano, who won gold at those Games, finished in fourth place.
