Winter Olympics 2022: Scotty James qualifies second for halfpipe final, Valentino Guseli snares fifth
Scotty James produced some new variations on his stunning array of tricks to fire a warning to his halfpipe rivals for the final, where he will be joined by teen sensation Valentino Guseli.
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Australian snowboarding king Scotty James has provided a sneak preview of the stunning array of tricks he hopes will win him the gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
James has been tight-lipped about exactly which tricks he will pull out in Friday’s monster halfpipe final, which is looming as the biggest must-watch event of the Olympics.
But the 27-year-old Victorian did give away some hints when he added a frontside 1420 tail and a different end combination during Wednesday’s qualifiers.
He kept his signature switch backside 1260, which gets him so many points because he makes it look so easy, and the judges loved his other new variations.
He earned 88.25 points on his first run then 91.25 on his second, to finish behind only Japanese whiz kid Ayumu Hirano, the Australian’s biggest rival for the final.
Hirano is the only man who has landed the notoriously difficult triple cork in competition, one of the few tricks James does not do, but the Australian is adamant he has enough in his armoury to match anything his opponents throw down.
“Nothing surprises me. I know everything,” James said. “I know what’s happening, I watch every single trick. Who’s doing what, what their plan is for finals.
“And I feel really confident with what to do for me personally moving forward.
“We obviously have runs we want to do … and that’s all part of being a competitor.”
Although the final is shaping as a shootout between James and Hirano, it is stacked with plenty of other potential medallists, including snowboarding’s ultimate winner, American Shaun White, who is retiring after the competition.
There is also another Aussie — teenage sensation Valentino Guseli, who qualified fifth after messing up his first attempt then nailed it at the second go.
“I just tried to stay as calm as I could after the first run when I made that little mistake,” Guseli said. “I stepped away from the halfpipe and did a couple of groomer laps with my coach and just pushed the comp away for a second and just reset.
“And then when I went back up to the top, I was ready to start my next run and very happy.”
By qualifying second, James will go second last in Friday’s final, where each competitor gets three runs, with the best single score counting.
Ideally, James wanted to go last so he can see exactly what all his competitors do, but by going just ahead of Hirano, he can also now apply the pressure on him by posting a score.
“I think anyone in the finals is obviously very good, very talented,” James said.
“It’s nice to be in the top three because it was part of our plan.
“Obviously you want to ride well and everything else can happen. But it is nice to drop late.
“It helps you kind of forecast a little bit better what to expect, what’s going to happen.
“By the last run, you have a really good understanding of this is what it’s going to take.”
INSANE TRICK THAT COULD MAKE OR BREAK SHOT AT GOLD
Australian snowboarding superstar Scotty James is preparing to gamble the house on an outrageous trick that could make or break his dream of an elusive Olympic gold medal.
There’s very little that James can’t do on a board but there’s one trick that’s so dangerous the Aussie legend hasn’t even tried in competition.
It’s the triple cork — which translates to four full rotations and three off-axis flips — and is so difficult that virtually no one has ever attempted it, including snowboarding’s greatest showman, American Shaun White.
The Flying Tomato did have a go in practice a few years ago but ended up in hospital so he, and pretty much everyone else, quit trying.
That all changed seven weeks ago when Japanese sensation Ayuma Hirano did the seemingly impossible and landed it at an event in Switzerland. But there was a catch.
Although he completed the trick, the sheer complexity and effort it took ruined the rest of his run and he failed to produce a clean run, leaving him with a tough decision about whether to stick with it in Beijing, and whether his biggest rival needs to be prepared as well.
“I have no doubt that will probably happen here,” James said. “If that’s the case and triple corks need to happen, then I’m ready. And if not, I’m ready as well.
“It was a matter of time before triple corks would happen. Mentally, I was always very prepared for that to happen. It wasn’t a surprise to me.”
If things go as planned, James may only need to try the triple cork if Hirano pulls it off first.
If he doesn’t, James will have a big advantage because he is already technically superior to most of his rivals and his current routine is packed with other amazing tricks, including the switch backside 1260, which the judges reward highly.
“It’s a very technical trick,” he said. “It’s like trying to write a thesis with your left hand.
“Growing up, you don’t typically really learn how to ride switch backside. It’s just a very strange feeling when you’re doing the trick.
“It’s a double cork, two off-axis rotations and a 1260 in spins.”
James does a variation of five tricks in his routine and more often that’s enough to win.
He has already won three world championships and four X-Games titles but not an Olympic gold — at least yet — though he did win bronze four years ago behind White and Hirano.
Now 27 and recently engaged, James is at the peak of his powers, physically and mentally.
Unlike his three previous Olympic appearances, he’s been absent from the World Cup circuit this season, practising in secret so as not to show his hand early. He will have to reveal some of what he’s got in Wednesday’s qualifying because it could have a big bearing on the final.
While he is expected to easily make the top 12 from the two qualifying runs, James also wants to finish first because the qualifying results decide the order for the final — held over three runs with the best single score counting.
Whoever finishes first gets to go last in Friday’s final, which is a huge advantage that James knows will play in his favour if he can seal it.
“I would say I’m definitely in a really good headspace,” he said.
“I’m super happy on the mountain but also away from the mountain, and I think you become a product of who you surround yourself with. The vision is clear.”
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