Scotty James wins the SILVER medal for Australia in snowboarding half-pipe Olympic final – after a single mistake cost him the top spot
- Snowboarder Scotty James, 27, has won a silver medal for Australia
- James took the lead during a stunning second run but fell short on final run
- Fellow Australian Valentino Guseli featured in final but did not place on podium
- Japan’s Ayumu Hirano took the gold medal with a strong last run in the final
High-profile snowboarder Scotty James has won the silver medal for Australia in the men’s half-pipe event at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The 27-year-old from Melbourne set down a stunning second run to take the lead in the event, but a mistake on his final run pushed him into second position behind Japan‘s Ayumu Hirano.
Jan Scherrer from Switzerland took the bronze medal.
James’s silver medal is an improvement on the bronze medal he won at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
‘I hope people don’t think I’m disappointed, I’m incredibly over the moon,’ James told broadcaster Channel Seven afterwards,
‘I came out and gave it my best shot and that’s all I can ask for.
‘To stand on the podium at an Olympic Games again is an incredible feat.’
Australian snowboarder Scotty James has claimed the silver medal in the snowboarding men’s half-pipe event at the Beijing Winter Olympics
James unfurls the Australian flag after winning the silver medal in the men’s snowboard half-pipe in Beijing
James (left) took silver behind Japan’s Ayumu Hirano (centre). Jan Scherrer (right) from Switzerland took the bronze medal
James said he was struggling to ‘get bite’ on one wall of the pipe and came unstuck on a ‘triple cork’ move during his third and final run.
His highly technical second run had scored 92.50, putting him in the gold medal position ahead of the final run.
Fellow Australian Valentino Guseli also featured in the final but finished out of the medals in sixth place.
Australia’s only gold medal at the Winter Olympics so far belongs to freestyle skier Jakara Anthony, 23, who took out the Women’s Mogul Final after dominating the event with a final score of 83.09.
US snowboarding legend Shaun White, who is retiring after this Olympics, finished out of the medals in fourth place.
‘I feel sorry for Scotty, I know he wanted that gold… but Ayumu just crushed,’ White said afterwards.
James at the presentation ceremony at Genting Snow Park, Beijing, after the final
James improved on the bronze medal he won at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea
James, from Warrandyte in Melbourne’s outer suburbs, is only the sixth Australian to win multiple Winter Olympics medals.
He had previously won three world championships in the event, in 2015, 2017 and 2019.