Scotty James has demonstrated once again why he’s perhaps the greatest of Australia’s winter sports athletes as he landed his fourth world snowboard halfpipe title with another brilliant daredevil display amid a snowfall in St Moritz.
The 30-year-old Melburnian confirmed his position as his country’s most successful snowsports world champion ever as he grabbed the long-awaited first Aussie gold of the FIS snowboard, freestyle and freeski showpiece on Saturday’s penultimate day.
His magnificent win came soon after the duo of Cam Bolton and Mia Clift took an unexpected silver in the snowboard cross mixed team final, boosting Australia’s tally to three medals following the bronze won in the dual moguls by Matt Graham in the first week.
“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!” James exclaimed joyfully afterwards.
“Halfpipe is a scary sport and it gets even scarier when conditions are tough. I am really pumped and I felt that I had to be resilient today, so I am stoked. To have won four world titles, I’m pinching myself.”
The snow was tumbling heavily at the Swiss resort as James, who in January had matched the legendary US rider Shaun White with a fourth straight X-Games halfpipe gold, set out on his latest historic quest, seeking to add to his three successive world titles back in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
On both runs, he led the way, firstly with an 89.50-point routine before a supreme final run that earned him 95.00.
His complex but superbly executed winning outing began with a switch McTwist Japan and ended with a switch backside double cork 1260 Weddle, before the even more disgustingly risky post-competition Aussie tradition of a celebratory “shoey” as he supped champagne from his snowboot.
He saw off the challenge of Japan’s former world champ Totsuka Yuto, who’d set the pace in qualifying with a fantastic 97.00 routine but had to settle for silver with a 92.50-point run, while Yuto’s compatriot Hirano Ruka grabbed bronze (92.00).
“Coming out this week was such a challenge. I was definitely not sitting there feeling okay when Ruka and Yuto were dropping in. They’ve been riding incredibly well all season and I’ve had some great battles with them,” said James.
His fifth world championship medal equalled the Australian-record tally of freestyle skier Graham, his fellow 30-year-old, but none of the moguls exponent’s gongs had been of the golden variety.
The victory only sets James up for the prize he really needs to confirm himself as Australia’s winter sports GOAT – the Olympic gold in Italy next year to go with his bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018 and silver in Beijing in 2022.
The silver for the all-Victorian pairing of 34-year-old Bolton and 20-year-old Clift was a welcome bonus for the team after the other, more fancied Australian pairing of Adam Lambert and Josie Baff just failed to make the four-racer ‘Big Final’ and ended up finishing sixth overall.
In the inaugural mixed team final, only the French duo of Loan Bozzolo and Julia Pereira de Sousa could defeat the Aussie pairing, with Clift producing a brilliant leg to get second-place ahead of Switzerland’s Valerio Jud and Sina Siegenthaler.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/olympics/snowboard-king-scotty-james-wins-fourth-world-gold-c-18202875
