It was during slopestyle training earlier in the Olympics that the 34-year-old crashed and suffered a concussion. Since then, he's been in the small Italian ski resort of Livigno recovering and preparing for the qualifiers on Sunday.
Harlaut has received the go-ahead from Dr. Jakob Swanberg.
Now it's up to the star himself.
"It's the world elite, the very best in the world who are here. I want to take the safe route before the uncertain. If everything feels good, I'll try," he says.
Self-confidence required
Harlaut has been increasing his training day by day and now plans to attempt harder tricks in Friday's practice. The execution and feel will then determine whether he can attempt his trickiest moves in the qualifiers and a possible final.
Everything has to feel comfortable, he says.
"They're my very best tricks, the absolute ultimate I can do. So it requires me to have the confidence and really trust that I can do it."
Not well thought out
What if the feeling isn't there?
"I've come here to fight for the medals. I've already competed in three Olympics before; I have a medal from the last Olympics... Just competing for the sake of competing is not the goal."
Henrik Harlaut, however, has a way of getting the right feeling even before he takes the lift up to the big air platform. It's all about finding the right style. During a training session earlier this week, he wore hiking shorts under his helmet.
What will happen next remains to be seen.
"It's not that well thought out. I like to wear some "random" stuff under my helmet. What I'm wearing definitely helps. The more comfortable I am, the better."
