Aussie snowboarder Scotty James claims another major award adding to his growing list of accolades
Scotty James is the only Aussie to win four world championships in any winter discipline, and another major gong has him dreaming big ahead of the 2026 Olympics.
Australian snowboarding daredevil Scotty James has received a huge confidence boost ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics after picking up another major gong following his historic fourth world championship.
One of Australia’s best hopes for gold in Milano Cortina next February, James was named male athlete of the year at the annual Snow Australia awards in Melbourne, the biggest night on the calendar for snow and ice athletes.
Up against a stellar field, the 30-year-old was a runaway winner of the award after claiming an unprecedented fourth world title in snowboard half-pipe at St Moritz in Switzerland in late March.
The only Aussie to win four world championships in any winter discipline, James will head to northern Italy with a real shot at gold after he also took out this season’s X Games superpipe crown for the seventh time.
“I’m so excited and honoured to have won male athlete of the year,” James said.
“It’s been incredible watching everyone this season; so many great results across all the disciplines, men and women.
“For me, being a proud Australian it’s always really inspiring to see us do so well.
“I have big visions, big goals so it takes a whole team to make that happen, so I appreciate all the effort from everyone.”
After winning bronze at PyeongChang in 2018 then silver at Beijing four years later, Olympic gold is the last thing missing from James’ incredible CV, but he’s not the only Aussie aiming high next year.
With nine months to go until the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Australian team is flying at the moment, winning medals across a wide range of disciplines to raise hopes of bettering Australia’s record haul of four medals from Beijing in 2022.
Freestyle aerialists Laura Peel and Danielle Scott were named joint winners of the female athlete of the year for Olympic disciplines after brilliant seasons.
Peel dominated the World Cup circuit, consistently landing extremely difficult jumps to win five out of seven events, and claim her third career Crystal Globe.
But the Snow Australia judges couldn’t separate her from Scott, who medalled at four World Cup events to finish third on the overall season standings then claiming bronze at the 2025 World Championships.
Ben Tudhope won the male athlete award for the seventh year in a row in the Paralympic divisions while Georgia Gunew took out the female Paralympic award.
Cam Bolton and Mia Clift were recognised for the team performance of the Year following their World Championships silver medal in the snowboard cross team event.
Australia expects to pick a team of around 60 athletes from 12 winter sports for Milano Cortina.
More than 70 aspiring athletes, including Beijing moguls gold medallist Jakara Anthony, took part in an orientation day in Melbourne before the awards ceremony.
Dual ski-cross winter Olympian Katya Crema has been named as the team’s Deputy Chef de Mission, joining Alisa Camplin.
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