In the rough and tumble sport of snowboard cross it pays to have some options.
Australia are fortunate in that they have at least three when the sport is run and done in a day on Thursday.
Alex Pullin, Jarryd Hughes and Adam Lambert have all stood on the World Cup podium in the discipline – a kind of motocross on snow.
With jumps, banked turns and racing strategies it makes for exciting viewing and sometimes unpredictable results.
Pullin has frequently worked out how to sort his way through traffic to become one of the best racers in his sport.
There are further challenges at Bokwang Phoenix Park with the fluky winds and Pullin, who often likes to draft and come from behind in races, will need to consider his options.
“It makes it a little bit more tricky with the tactics that you choose to play with,” he said.
“I’m going to have to be pretty flexible with my strategy.”
A two-time world champion and World Cup title winner, the 30-year-old is running out of chances to add an Olympic medal to his otherwise outstanding career.
He surprised by qualifying first in Vancouver eight years ago only to bomb out in the first round of head-to-head races.
In Sochi, as disputes swirled over team funding, he struggled in foggy conditions and finished 13th.
Hughes is something of a wildcard, but does have two World Cup wins up his sleeve including one in Austria this season.
He was also the X Games winner in 2016.
The 22-year-old looks to have fully recovered from a run of knee injuries sustained over the past four years and will be a medal show if he gets through the early rounds.
Meanwhile Lambert, 20, has marked himself as a star of the future in the sport and will be a smokey for a medal.
His results have been a little ragged over the last seven weeks but he impressed with a nifty second after qualifying first in Val Thorens back in December.
The trio are joined by Cam Bolton on a longer course that the Australians feel will suit them.
The format of the snowboard cross sees riders complete a timed run for start ranking, following by a series of head-to-head races until the final.
