Scotty’s inner voice will guide him against great White

Scotty James says his alter ego will guide him in today’s halfpipe showdown for Olympic gold with the great Shaun White.

Australia’s Scotty James during the Olympic Snowboard Men’s Halfpipe Qualification at Phoenix Snow Park

Scotty James says his alter ego will let him know if he needs to pull out the trick none of his rivals has mastered in today’s halfpipe showdown for Olympic gold with the sport’s greatest performer Shaun White.

James finished behind White and ahead of Japanese star Ayumu Hirano in yesterday’s qualification runs, setting up an enthralling battle for the medals from 12.30pm AEDT.

All three men posted huge air, crowd-loving tricks and top scores well into the 90s during yesterday’s spectacular qualifying round, setting the scene for one of the most anticipated battles of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The lead changed three times as the second qualifying run — usually a safety performance after posting a good enough score in the first — became a fist-pumping session of one-upmanship.

Japanese star Ayumu Hirano, 19, landed a spectacular frontside double cork 1260 to knock off White’s first-run score from the top spot, before James scorched the pipe with back-to-back double cork 1260s, a frontside 1080 and a nose cab 5 into a switchback 590 to take the lead with a 96.75.

White, 31, a double Olympic champion, did not want to leave the pipe without a statement, and pulled out a double McTwist 1260 and frontside double cork 1260 that so impressed the judges he scored the highest of the day with 98.50.

“I started seeing everybody putting together these great runs and I figured I would just kind of step it up and it motivated me to send it on that last one,” White said.

James, 23, revealed that he talks to himself in third person throughout his competition, only hearing the music — it was AC/DC yesterday — in his ears for the first drop-in.

“I definitely talk to myself, I have got time to talk,’’ James said.

“I talk in third person, ‘OK Scotty, run into the trick and do this and then run into the next one. I take it hit by hit. By the time I am at the bottom and had a good run, I am saying ‘You bloody better put this down or I will be so disappointed in you’. It is my alter ego, he keeps me switched on.’’

James said today’s gold medallist will have to pull off “an amazing run’’.

He hinted at another level of technical difficulty that he could produce, but didn’t want to put pressure on himself by talking about it.

But James has previously thrown down a switch backside double cork 1260, a trick none of his competitors is believed to have mastered. Hirano, however, has also landed back to back 1440s — a move with so many spins it is difficult to count midair.

James said the Olympic final was going to be intense.

“It is going to take an amazing run from all three of us, and the rest of the field too, some have more to show,’’ he said when asked what it would take to win the gold medal. “I know what I have to do, I have had really good preparation, and I will come out and do what I need to do.’’

It wasn’t just Chloe Kim causing headaches for competitors in the women’s snowboard halfpipe yesterday as Australian Emily Arthur crashed and took a heavy knock on her final run.

Kim was first and daylight second at the Bokwang Phoenix Park pipe, the gulf in her ability compared to the opposition evidenced in her final run in which she logged 98.25 points.

China’s Jiayu Liu was second (89.75) and American Arielle Gold third (85.75). Arthur (11th) had a more literal headache to contend with after she sought to boost her score on her third hit.

But spinning a cab 540 she failed to smoothly deal with the landing and jarred her shoulder and face into the flat centre of the ‘pipe.

She gingerly got up and appeared winded before being assessed by Australian medical staff. Arthur had a bloody nose and there was also a small cut under her right eye.

“I’m feeling really good,” she said later. “I took a bit of a crash at the end of my third run. But I’m still so happy to be here and happy I could pull through ... I’m sure I’ll be back on snow in a couple of days”.