Valentino Guseli

Just days before his 17th birthday Valentino has won a bronze medal at the slopestyle World Cup in Silvaplana, Switzerland.

The competition was tight at the top as his fellow podium finishers Marcus Kleveland (91.60) and Mons Roisland (90.20), both from Norway, edged out Valentino’s 89.40.

It’s his second slopestyle World Cup medal since Beijing 2022, after Valentino won silver at Bakuriani, Georgia earlier this month.

“It’s been such a blast getting back into slopestyle, I have been doing it since I was young and to be back doing it again after just doing pipe for the start of this season has been very enjoyable,” Valentino said.

“That was the most heated slopestyle final I’ve ever been in. As much as the boys were definitely throwing down it was a very upbeat and very positive vibe up there."

The 2021-22 season has been a big one for Valentino’s development, on the overall snowboard World Cup standings he has finished fifth.

AusCycling Elite Championships

Triple-Olympian Matthew Glaetzer had a ruthlessness to his track cycling at the 2022 AusCycling Elite Championships, as he charged to the title without dropping a set on the final day.

He qualified second behind two-time defending champion Matthew Richardson at the Anna Meares Velodrome and usurped him when it mattered most.

It goes down as the fifth national title for the 29-year-old from South Australia.

Photo credit: John Veage - AusCycling

While Kristina Clonan defended her sprint national championship crown for the second-straight time in her home state of Queensland.

The gold medal final was decided by millimetres in the third match sprint, with Breanna Hargrave from South Australia the runner up.

“It was definitely the hard way today, there was a lot of learning to take in,” Kristina said.

Photo credit: John Veage - AusCycling

“I really had to work for this one today so having Bree (Hargrave) there really gave me a run for my money.”

Australian Beach Volleyball Championships

Top-seeded pairing Nicole Laird and Phoebe Bell have taken out the 2022 Australian Beach Volleyball Championships on the Gold Coast.

Their opponents in the final, Cherry Ann Rondina and Bernadeth Pons from the Philippines, only lost one of their seven matches in pool stages. Nicole and Phoebe did not take them lightly in the final, securing the national title in straight sets 21-18, 21-12.

Photo credit: Rogue Gun Photography

Nicole, a Rio 2016 Olympian, was happy with how their play came together throughout the tournament after their showing at the World Tour event in Mexico.

“I feel really proud of Phoebe and myself. I think we made a commitment at this event that we’d really start to plug some holes we found at that international level in Mexico,” she said.

On the men’s side Aussie favourites Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher fell in three thrilling sets to New Zealand’s top duo Sam O'dea and Bradley Fuller. Mark and Izac forced a third set, losing 21-17, 13-21, 15-12.

Heming Hu

Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 table tennis Olympian Heming Hu has announced his retirement.

The 28-year-old had a near decade-long career after making his senior international debut at the 2013 Commonwealth Championships.

He won back-to-back International Table Tennis Federation Oceania Cup singles titles in 2018 and 2019.

Kurtis Mathews

22-year-old Kurtis Mathews has become the first Australian diver to win two NCAA National Championship titles.

Competing in Atlanta for the Texas A&M Aggies, Kurtis won gold in both springboard events at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. He joins Olympian Jaele Patrick (2012) as the only other Aussie to win a NCAA national title.