Australia's Olympic snowboard whiz Valentino Guseli will take the first step of a mountain-sized challenge this week when he returns to competition following knee surgery.
Guseli is aiming to make snowboarding history at next year's Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina by becoming the first male snowboarder to compete in the big air, slopestyle, and halfpipe events at the same Games.
Guseli, 20, has already proven he's capable of reaching his lofty goal - in 2023 he became the first to win World Cup medals in all three park and pipe disciplines in the same season.
And as a 16-year-old he was just short of the podium in the halfpipe at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, finishing sixth.
But first Guseli needs to qualify, with the season-opening World Cup Big Air event getting underway at China's Secret Garden on Thursday.
Rupturing his ACL at another China venue 12 months ago, Guseli missed all but one events of the World Cup season and was unable to bank any qualification points.
That means he needs some strong finishes in competition to earn selection before the Games get underway in Italy on Friday, February 6.
The aim is to be ranked around top 30, depending on quota places with countries limited to four athletes per event.
While riders are judged on their high-risk tricks after launching off a huge jump, Guseli told AAP he will take a measured approach.
"To be honest, I'm taking it pretty easy, just warming back up nice and slowly and like, steady," said Guseli, who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW far south coast.
"The goal is to just get the best result that I can while staying very safe and calculated.
"Obviously the best result I can get here will make the rest of the qualifications easier, and it would be ideal to get it out of the way as soon as possible but yeah, that's basically what we're going for."
He said he was ready for the massive qualification challenge - both physically and logistically.
He can take inspiration from fellow Beijing Olympian Tess Coady, who recovered from her own ACL injury at the 2018 Games to win a heart-warming bronze in the slopestyle four years later, when she also competed in the Big Air.
"I'm pretty grateful about how my rehab turned out and how I'm feeling as I feel really strong," Guseli said.
"It's pretty close to brand new and I've seen a lot of other people that have had the same injury and it seems that I'm having a lot less problems than than lots of those people."
After three events in China his travel schedule will take him to Colorado in the USA for two, Canada for one, back to Aspen and then on to Switzerland for the last World Cup before the Games.
Coady will also make a competition comeback in the Big Air at Secret Garden after she was rubbed out by shoulder surgery and concussion last year.
The 25-year-old has had a tough run with injury; first with her ACL which she suffered in the warm-up at the Pyeongchang Games, while the Victorian won her Beijing bronze after fracturing her ankle in training two days before her event.
