Winter Olympics: Scotty James talks about excitement of representing Australia as he goes for gold in PyeongChang

AT the age of 23, snowboarder Scotty James is a multi-millionaire, a big deal in the US and is competing at his third Winter Olympics. But it’s gold he wants most.

THE snowboard was originally introduced to Scotty James as a deterrent.

“The story that my mum tells is that I wouldn’t quite co-operate with ski school,” James explains.

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“I was quite adventurous and would ski off on my own and wouldn’t keep with the class because it was boring.

“They thought the solution would be, let’s put him on a snowboard and that will put him on his arse so he won’t be out of our sight.

“I think that worked for about five or six months until I figured it out.”

That little kid from Warrandyte on the slopes of Falls Creek certainly figured the snowboard out and by the time he was 15, James was representing Australia at the Winter Olympics.

Now at the grand old age of 23, he’s about to compete in his third Olympics and on Friday night had the honour of carrying the Australian flag at the PyeongChang Opening Ceremony.

James is the reigning world champion in the half-pipe, a multi-millionaire and a seriously big deal in America although NBA star Ben Simmons may have recently knocked him off as Australia’s most popular athlete in the US.

Australian flag bearer Scotty James is chasing gold in the snowboard half-pipe at PyeongChang.

And by the middle of next week there’s a good chance he’ll also be an Olympic champion.

The first thing which people notice about James is his height. It’s assumed that flying around in mid-air doing jaw-dropping twists and turns is more suited to those small in stature.

Generally that’s correct — the sport’s guru and two-time Olympic champion Shaun White is 175cm — but the Australian touches the tape at 190cm.

“It is definitely a bit unorthodox for someone like myself to be tall and be doing the tricks that I do,” James says.

“But I have kind of used it as an advantage for me really, it’s an opportunity to carry speed, to get higher amplitude and I’ve heard it a couple of times now that taller guys make it look better.

“I think when I was a little bit younger and I was going through my growth spurt, I would listen a little bit more and think being tall wasn’t the way.

“But I think I have broken that mould and shown the world as well as other kids, or anyone else who is struggling with the same thing, that anything is possible.”

He describes snowboarding as “like floating on clouds”.

Scotty James of Australia competes in the finals of the FIS Snowboard World Cup 2018 Men's Snowboard Halfpipe at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

“The thing is when it goes right there is point five of a second where you can really enjoy it, that’s the special feeling we’re all after.”

For a long time James just soaked up the lifestyle of travelling the world doing his thing — he first competed internationally when he was 14 — and never took things too seriously.

His unique talent was getting him to Olympic Games — he finished 21st in Vancouver in 2010 and the same position in the half-pipe four years later in Sochi (he also finished 16th in slopestyle).

But he wanted more and a switch was then flicked.

James started training properly, became a gym junkie and got a nutritionist on board which meant changes — the biggest being the exclusion of chocolate.

“I’ve really adopted the sweet tooth from my dad so that has been quite hard,” he admits.

The new improved version of James was there for everyone to see last year when he defended his world title, won his first X Games gold medal and took victory at the Olympic test event in South Korea.

It was certainly noticed by his main rival White, the man known as the “Flying Tomato” who has dominated snowboarding over the past 15 years.

Scotty James at a press conference in PyeongChang on Thursday.

“He uses his strength and his height as an advantage for him, it’s just impressive,” White said.

“I remember him being around but he wasn’t as passionate, as driven as he is today.

“Scotty has definitely hit a nice peak last season by winning a bunch of big events and now he’s making his way and we’ll see what happens at the Olympics.

“The whole country of Australia is behind him. All these expectations, these things. I just wish him the best. As a friend and as a guy who has been through it I hope he uses this as a great benchmark in his career.”

Shattering the aura around White last year was a crucial breakthrough for James in his quest for Olympic gold.

“I have got a lot of respect for him (White), he’s the pioneer and he’s kind of put our sport on the map,” James said.

“I guess when it comes down to the competition day, I’m kind of the only one who consistently beats him ever and I feel like I have been able to use that energy in a very positive way.

“Whereas other people I think are intimidated by him.”

James, who is based in Colorado, certainly isn’t scared to speak his mind and didn’t mince words after a recent loss to White, claiming he got “shafted” by the judges.

The American was given a perfect 100 score while James was second (96.25) after unveiling a breakthrough switch backside double cork 1260, a trick that he’d spent 18 months perfecting which involves three and a half spins, and a blind entry and landing.

“I am not a sore loser,” he said. “I just think everyone would agree that it is pretty tough to get a perfect score — so I didn’t agree with that at all.”

James has been saving a couple of other moves for the Olympics but says the boost he gets from pulling on the Australian jacket and being part of his country’s team is just as important.

“There is more to it at Olympics, there is this camaraderie and having this Australian flag on my back, that excites me just that little bit more.

“It’s quite outside the box for an Australian to be excelling in a winter sport and whatever that energy is from that, I feed off it and I really embrace it.”