It was an impressive showing for Australian snowboard athletes in the halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland, with three top-6 performances, led by VIS rider Scotty James who claimed the 12th World Cup podium performance of his career.

Poor visibility in Laax resulted in the night-time final being cancelled, with results from the qualification round used to determine the final placings.Heading into the event wearing the yellow leaders bib as the number one ranked rider,
James was again impressive with two high quality runs in qualifying, with his highest scoring run coming in run two, with a huge score of 95 points. Finishing just ahead of James by just 0.25 points in first place was Ruka Hirano from Japan, with his teammate Yuto Totskua rounding out the podium in third scoring 91.50.

NSWIS teenage sensation Valentino Guseli was close to securing his first ever halfpipe podium, finishing in fourth place. Showing his incredible versatility as a snowboarder, Guseli also just missed the slopestyle podium finishing in fifth place over the weekend.

After two events, James is sitting comfortably in first place on the World Cup standings retaining the yellow bib on 180 points, 64 points clear of Swiss rider Jan Scherrer in second place. After his best ever World Cup halfpipe result, 17-year-old Guseli moves up to fourth on the rankings.

In the women’s halfpipe event, two-time NSWIS Olympian Emily Arthur also had an equal personal best World Cup finish of sixth place.

“The halfpipe was amazing as always, but unfortunately with the weather we weren’t able to compete in the end, which was a bit of a shame,” said James after the awards ceremony.

“It’s always amazing to ride here in Laax in front of this crowd. For me on the podium it’s a little bit bittersweet, because I would have loved to have rode tonight but I’m also happy to be able to come away with second place.”

“We had a discussion between the riders about what we wanted to do,” James continued, “And we mutually decided to give it one more try, which we did, but unfortunately the weather came back in again and they had to cancel it.”

James and Guseli will next be in action in the halfpipe at the X-Games in Aspen, USA, on January 27.

Four-time Olympian Scotty James has qualified in second position for Friday's final of the men's halfpipe competition at the Genting Snow Park and, in great news for the Australian Team, he'll be joined by 16-year-old debutant Valentino Guseli in the final.

Scotty put down scores of 88.25 and 91.25 to breeze into the final where he will be looking to add to the bronze medal he won four years ago.

Ayumu Hirano of Japan was the leading qualifier with a score of 93.25. American superstar Shaun White, competing in his final Olympic campaign, was the fourth best qualifier scoring 86.25.

"It's a beautiful day and I'm really happy with how that all went," Scotty said.

"The best bit was we stuck to our plan and when you do that you are happy with the result.

"My last trick was a frontside 1440 with a tail grab. I'm really happy to [have] put it all together."

Despite reaching the podium four years ago, Scotty isn't putting any pressure on himself ahead of the final on Friday.

"For me, I'd be happy on Friday to come out and execute exactly what my plan is."

Valentino showed nerves of steel to qualify in fifth position with a brilliant second run of 85.74. It was a score he needed to post after a first run of 31.75 that was well below his capabilities.

"On the first run I just made a little mistake which I've never made on that trick, ever," Val said.

"I tend to stay pretty calm, and I did that before the second run. I stepped away, reset [myself] and got myself ready to go. I am happy I stomped it."

Both competitors will have three runs down the halfpipe in the final, with qualification scores not carrying over. The best of each competitors' three scores will determine the medals.

Earlier in the day, PyeongChang 2018 finalist Emily Arthur was unable to advance to the last 12 in the women's competition.

Emily put down a solid first run of 62.50 to see her right on the cusp of the final 12 after the completion of the first round, but heading into her second run, she knew she needed to improve on her score as she had been relegated down to 13th place.

Despite a solid start, Emily was unable to stick one of her landings, crashing out and finishing with a score of 19.75. It saw her place 14th after the completion of two runs.

"It's OK, I'm walking away safely and not injured," Emily said.

"The second run was going really well, until I got there a little bit early, it's rough, I know I'm good enough to make the final but it's all OK.

The men's halfpipe final will be held on Friday 11 February from 12:30pm AEDT.

olympics.com.au
Damian Kelly

Tess Coady has recorded the second World Cup victory of her career, with an impressive gold medal performance in the slopestyle event at the Laax Open in Switzerland, with Matt Cox and teen halfpipe sensation Valentino Guseli recording personal best finishes to make it a great day for Australian snowboarding.
 
In a dominating performance, Coady won the qualification round, and had the two highest scoring runs in the final, sealing the deal with a spectacular frontside double 1080 on the last jump.
 
In the best of two run format, Coady scored 79.60 on her first run, and with victory already assured before her final run, she stepped it up to score 86.18 to finish ahead of Anna Gasser of Austria on 78.56 and Annika Morgan of Germany with 76.61.
 
“It feels so good to take the win today” said the 21-year-old from Melbourne.
 
“Really just wanted to land my runs, I think that’s all you can ask for, so to achieve that today was just a win in itself for me.”
 
“This event is always so sick, it’s ran so well and the park is always built well. It makes a massive difference for the riders and how much you enjoy the event.”
 
“The frontside 1080 is a new one for me. I learnt it a few months ago at Prime parks in Stubai. I really wanted to bring it out today so super stoked I was able to do that.”
 
In the men’s event, Matt Cox’s best score came in run number two, with a 65.78 giving him the best World Cup slopestyle finish of his career in seventh place.
 
In the men’s halfpipe final, 16-year-old Valentino Guseli put down two great runs scoring 80.50 on his first run, and 80 on his second run to finish in a personal best fifth. 
 
Competing in his first event of the season, Scotty James unfortunately was unable to put two clean runs down in the final to finish in 11th place after leading the star studded field with the highest score in the qualification event.

Emily Arthur finished in 16th in the women's halfpipe event.
 
Coady, James and Guseli will now head to Aspen, USA, for the X-Games which will take place in the Colorado resort next weekend.

NSWIS snowboarder Emily Arthur has finished the season with a 12th place finish at the World Cup final in Aspen, Colorado.
 
Arthur had her best run in the first round of qualifying scoring 60 points, which put her in 12th position, just missing the eight woman final by four places
 
Taking the win was Olympic Champion Chloe Kim of the USA, with Queralt Castellet of Spain in second, with Japanese rider Sena Tomita rounding out the podium in third.
 
Competing in his second World Cup start, 15-year-old  NSWIS snowboarding prodigy Guseli finished in 29th place.
 
2021 World Champion Yuto Totsuka of Japan took the win in the men’s event with his fellow countryman Raibu Katayama in second with German Andre Hoeflich in third.
 
Three time Olympic Champion Shaun White of the USA made his return to competition for the first time since winning gold at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, just missing the podium in fourth place.
 
After taking home the silver medal last week at the World Championships in Aspen, VIS snowboarder Scotty James elected not to compete in the World Cup in Aspen. James will remain overseas to train during the next few months.

IMAGE: Emily Arthur launching out of the Aspen halfpipe © Chris Hocking

Scotty James has just fallen short of recording a historic fourth straight halfpipe World Championship gold medal, claiming the silver medal today in Aspen, USA.
 
The 26-year-old from Warrandyte in Victoria put down an impressive opening run scoring 90.50 points to lead all competitors after the first round of finals.
 
Going past James in the second run was Yuto Totsuka from Japan who moved into first place with a score of 93 points. Totsuka increased his score on his third and final run with a huge 96.25 points to take the gold medal.
 
Rounding out the podium in the bronze medal position was Jan Scherrer of Switzerland who scored 87 points in is final run.
 
“Happy to come out here representing Australia doing the best I can, and that is really what I did today and that was a second place,” said the 2018 Olympic bronze medallist.
 
“Today I learnt a lot of lessons and things I will be able to move forward and put into play when I go into my offseason. I have tricks I want to achieve, and I will be back to where I want to be.”
 
“Huge thankyou to everyone back home that has been supporting me to this day. I wish I could have brought back a gold medal but give me a little bit of time and I will do no doubt do it again.”
 
In his World Championship debut, 15-year-old Australian snowboarding prodigy Valentino Guseli was unlucky not to make the 10-man final, missing out by just one place in eleventh position. In the women’s event Emily Arthur finished in tenth place, matching her best performance of the season.
 
The athletes will remain in Aspen for another week, with the World Cup final scheduled to take place on March 21. James will be looking to win his fourth World Cup Crystal Globe title and finish the season with a victory.

It was another golden performance for Australia’s Scotty James overnight at the World Cup event in Secret Garden, China, site of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games competition.

The 25 year old VIS snowboarder took the first place podium for the second consecutive time this season.

James led the field with a mammoth 97.80 points in his second run, and held the lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his third and final run.

“It was definitely a pretty tough day with lots of elements to consider, some winds, a lot of snow, but I mean we prepare for the worst really, so I was really happy that was the run I wanted to do, regardless if it was sunny or snowing”, said the three time World Champion.

“My first run I wasn’t super happy, I did a little hand drag on the last hit, and I knew that I would get docked for that. I knew what I had to do on the second run and I just went back to the top refreshed and got ready to go again.”

“The Japanese athletes really brought it to me today, and I knew they would, so I just came out and gave it my best shot and it seems to be paying off.”

“I am really happy to leave my mark here and finish up with a win. With Secret Garden the Olympic venue in 2022, it was important for me to come here and not leave anything on the table, which I didn’t, and I am stoked.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a plethora of X Games medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and now eight FIS World Cup medals (5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.

Behind James on the podium were Japanese riders Yuto Totsuka (95.80) in second and Ruka Hirano (92.50) in third.

Also competing for Australia was NSWIS athlete and 2018 Olympian Emily Arthur, who missed out on the eight woman final placing 14th in the qualifying round.

James and Arthur will next compete at the Laax Open in Switzerland from January 14-18.

It was a golden FIS World Cup opener for Australia’s Scotty James at the Land Rover US Grand Prix event at Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.

The 25 year old VIS snowboarder, took the first place podium for the second consecutive year at the event.

James, a three time Winter Olympian, led the field with a mammoth 96 point first run in challenging snow and flat light conditions and held the first run lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his third and final run.

“I definitely put some added pressure on myself after last year with some big expectations” said the Australian Institute of Sport male athlete of the year.

“I had to iron those emotions over and just come out with a clear head and approach it as a new season. I did that and just came out today and knew what I had to do to be up top. The elements weren’t in our favour today but everyone rode really well and I knew they were going to, so I had to bring it today.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time FIS World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a plethora of X Games medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and now seven FIS World Cup medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.

Yuto Totsuka (JPN) took silver with 94.5 and Ruka Hirano (JPN) took bronze with 89.25.

NSWIS rider Emily Arthur finished in 25th place, missing out on the eight woman final.

James and Arthur will now travel to Secret Garden in China for the next FIS World Cup on December 22.

NSWIS Snowboarder Kent Callister has recorded his fourth straight top-10 of the season at the FIS World Cup Halfpipe event in Calgary, Canada.

Callister qualified for finals in eighth place, with a best score of 75.75 which came in his first run.

Unfortunately in the final, Callister was unable to put down a run, finishing at the back of the 10-man final.

Also in action for Australia was NSWIS teammate Emily Arthur, who finished in 12th place, just missing finals. 

The next World Cup event for Callister and Arthur will be in Mammoth Mountain, California, USA, on March 9th. 

IMAGE - Kent Callister boosting out of the Calgary Halfpipe © FIS Snowboard

PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist Scotty James has started the new Snowboard World Cup season off with a bang, winning gold at the opening Halfpipe World Cup in Copper Mountain on the weekend.

After heading into the final ranked third, James put down a blistering score of 96.75 in his third and final run of the day to secure the victory ahead of America’s Toby Miller (94.00) and Chase Josey (90.25) in second and third.

The Copper Mountain World Cup was the first event for the 24-year-old VIS athlete since he won Olympic bronze in February. James said he feels like there is less pressure on him this season, and he's feeling really positive.

“It was an amazing feeling today, there are so many good riders, everyone really showed up and I really had to come out swinging on the last run,” he said.

“Last year I came into this event and qualified first so there was a lot of pressure, but I feel really good this year.
“I don’t really mind where I qualify at all, on the day I just want to show up. I’m feeling better than ever, so it’s a really nice place to kick off the season.”

While the World Cup points are important, James’ big goal for this season is a third World title at the 2019 World Championships in Park City, Utah in early February.

“I’m looking forward to the World Champs. It is my title to hold onto and it would be number three for me, so that would be really exciting, I just hope I can get it done.”

James’ Aussie teammate and dual Winter Olympian Kent Callister also qualified for the final, placing 9th. PyeongChang Olympian Emily Arthur finished 13th in the women’s event, that was unsurprisingly won by PyeongChang gold medallist and three-time Copper Mountain World Cup victor, 18-year-old Chloe Kim.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Emily Arthur has finished 11th in her Winter Olympic debut in the halfpipe at Phoenix Snow Park.

The 18-year-old gave it her all but just couldn't land her run as competition favourite Chloe Kim of the USA won gold ahead of China's Jiayu Liu and USA's Arielle Gold. 

Arthur had her best score in her opening run with a 48.25 before scoring 9.25 and 25.00 in her remaining two runs.

"It was amazing," said the Youth Olympic silver medallist.

"All of my family is here, it was so fun and I can't wait to do another one." 

On her final time down the pipe, Arthur laid it all on the line as she attempted a backside 540, a trick she had never completed before in competition, midway through her run.

The young gun was extremely close to pulling it off but went down, hitting her head before making her way down the middle of the pipe and receving medical attention at the end of the run. 

"I took a bit of a crash at the end of my third run but I'm so happy to be here.

"I pulled through and I'm still alive and I'm sure I'll be back on the snow in a couple of days.

"I'd never done that trick in comp before and I'm sure it would have paid if I'd landed it but I'm still happy."

Arthur had progressed through yesterday's qualification with a score of 66.50.

She was one of five Australians to win a Youth Olympic medal in Lillehammer 2016 when she claimed silver behind now Olympic Champion Chloe Kim.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

The world’s eyes were on Korea on February 9 as the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games officially commenced with a spectacular display of Korean culture.

The PyeongChang Olympic Stadium played host to an estimated 50,000 people for the official Opening of the XXIII Winter Olympic Games.

As is Olympic tradition, the Parade of Athletes was led by Greece which was then followed by other delegations in alphabetical order according to the Korean alphabet.

Snowboard Halfpipe World Champion Scotty James led his fellow Australian athletes from seven different winter sports into the stadium during the ceremony to the tune of Korean pop songs.

The 23-year-old, who is set to compete in his third Olympic Games, was completely taken aback by the experience.
“It’s hard to put into words,” James said.

“What really stuck with me was the camaraderie between the Team before we walked out.

“We had the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie going before I got the flag and it was really exciting.

“After all that happened I’m now really excited to use that energy for the rest of the Games.”

With a lot of attention always being on the flagbearers’ technique, James handled the pressure of showcasing the Aussie flag to all those watching in the stands and at home.

“I did not practice but I did look up some past flagbearers and got some pointers from them.

“There was a natural breeze but I did really enjoy waving it myself as well.”

A flurry of colour, lights and dance helped warm up the athletes and those in the stands and despite the temperature still hitting below zero, the conditions were much more pleasant than the week leading in.

The Olympic Torch, which has travelled 2018 kilometres from Olympia and has been passed through the hands of 7,500 torchbearers, eventually was handed to dual figure skating Olympic medallist Yuna Kim who set the Olympic cauldron alight.

For 12 of the Aussies marching into their first Olympic Games, the Opening Ceremony was an experience they will never forget.

“It was insane, there were so many lights, you couldn’t even see anyone,” Snowboard Halfpipe Olympic debutant Emily Arthur said.

“Scotty did a very good job, we were struggling to keep up with him there for a bit but he led us very well and I was proud to have him in front of us.

“I’m excited to go out there in competition, put a run down and have fun. I just want to enjoy the whole experience, it’s big to be here but it’s just another event so it’s going to be really exciting.”

Over the next two weeks 51 Australian athletes will compete across 10 sports including: Alpine Skiing, Bobsleigh, Cross Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Figure Skating, Luge, Snowboard, Short Track Skating, Skeleton and Speed Skating.
You can follow all the coverage from the PyeongChang 2018 Games, live and free on Channel 7.

David Barden
olympics.com.au

SNOWBOARD HALFPIPE: With seven previous Olympic Games and 22 World Cup and World Championship medals between them, the five athletes selected to represent Australia in snowboard halfpipe at PyeongChang 2018 know what it takes to be the best.

Triple Olympian Holly Crawford will compete at her fourth Games, looking to improve upon her best Olympic result of eighth at Vancouver 2010.

The 33-year-old has one gold and two silver World Championship medals under her belt and recently finished 10th at the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada.

"After a long and bumpy road I am mostly relieved to have officially made the 2018 Olympic Team," Crawford said.

"It is less the Olympic Games itself and more the journey to get there that shapes an athlete. By the time you’re at the Olympics most of the hard work is already done and you just have to let yourself do what you’ve trained to do.

"I am very proud to have been able to represent Australia at the previous three Olympics and every four years I am prouder than the last!"

She will be joined by two-time World Champion and Crystal Globe winner Scotty James.

With two 21st place halfpipe finishes from Vancouver and Sochi, plus a 16th place in snowboard slopestyle from 2010, James said his previous Olympic experiences have made him better prepared for his third Games.

“Having been to two Games and with the benefit of many more international competitions under my belt, I now understand what I have to do to achieve my goals,” the 23-year-old said.

“For me, representing my country in the Olympic Winter Team is the greatest honour that I have ever achieved. I really feed off the support that we give each other as Aussie Team members and the support that we receive from all over Australia.”

Sochi Olympians Kent Callister (22) and Nathan Johnstone (27) will return to the Team for their second Olympic experience.

Callister was the surprise packed of Sochi 2014, finishing ninth as the top ranked Australian in a star-studded field. Johnstone wasn’t too far behind, missing the final by one place to finish 13th on debut.

“I’m very excited to be heading to my second Olympic Games,” Callister said.

“I had a blast riding in Sochi so I’m looking forward to the whole Olympic experience at PyeongChang. I feel very grateful to be going to the Olympics again so I’m going to soak it all in.”

The only debutant in the halfpipe team, Emily Arthur, has also had her fair share of international experience.

The 18-year-old won halfpipe silver at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games and placed 15th in snowboard slopestyle.

She recorded a career-best result at the 2017 Secret Garden World Cup in December, qualifying for her first final and finishing in sixth place. She heads into her debut Games with a world ranking of 13th.

“Being selected is the most insane moment of my life!” Arthur said.

“I've wanted to go to the Olympics for as long as I can remember, it's always been in the back of my mind growing up that maybe one day I could go, and I can't believe it’s now a reality.”

Arthur said it will be a dream come true to make her Olympic debut alongside athletes she has admired for years.

“I look up to the older girls on the Australian Team so much, they have really taken me in and been so amazing to me! They are the girls I looked up to when I was young and still do, I know they are going to look after me and definitely make the experience so fun.”

Crawford's advice to all the rookies on the Team is to "be proud and confident in the work they've put in."

"Trust in your ability, we all train and compete all year round and your body knows what it is doing so just let it. Most of all enjoy the ride and take it all in, you’ve earned it!"

Snowboard halfpipe will be held at the Bokwang Snow Park with qualifications on Day 4 (February13). The men’s final is on Day 5 (February 14) and the women’s final is on Day 11 (February 20). Find out more about snowboarding at PyeongChang HERE.

The team of Mitchell Allen, Andrew Burton, Ben Mates, Torah Bright and Holly Crawford made Australia’s snowboard halfpipe Olympic debut at Torino 2006. Bright has won Australia’s two snowboard halfpipe Olympic medals, with gold at Vancouver 2010 and silver at Sochi 2014. Find out more about Australia’s Olympic snowboard history HERE.
​
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Some of Australia’s top snowboarders will drop into the halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland in this year’s second World Cup and final PyeongChang qualifier.
 
Among those competing at the Swiss resort include Holly Crawford, Torah Bright and Sochi Olympian Nate Johnstone, who is hoping for “redemption” after Snowmass “didn’t go to plan for me at all”.
 
Johnstone finished in 36th place with a best score of 19.00 last week, missing out on Saturday’s 10-man final after he “couldn’t manage to put one [run] down in either of my competition runs”.
 
“I just want to put down a solid run and build on that through the event,” he said.
 
“Training has been good, we had a great first day of training but the snow has rolled in hard and put a handbrake on the event for the time being.”
 
Crawford, Bright and Emily Arthur finished within the top 15 of last week’s Halfpipe World Cup but were unable to secure spots in the eight-woman finals.
 
Crawford, a three-time Olympian, finished in 14th place with a best score of 56.75 while Torah Bright wasn’t far behind, placing 15th with a best score of 55.75.
 
Bright, who like Crawford is hoping to compete in her fourth Winter Olympics, recently stepped up to the podium twice during the North-American Cup circuit in December after making a stunning return to the Snowboard Halfpipe competition.
 
Arthur, who competed in Snowmass after securing her best ever World Cup result at China’s Secret Garden in December, finished in 12th place with a best score of 60.25.
 
With PyeongChang looming, the 18-year-old has elected to remain at her “home mountain” of Mammoth, California while she tests some new tricks on airbags.
 
“It really helps with fear, because you literally have nothing to lose when you try a trick, so it definitely helps me get tricks much quicker,” she said.
 
“My coach and I thought it would be good to compete here and get some extra training in and not worry about travelling so close to the Olympics.”
 
Fellow Halfpipe riders Kent Callister and Scotty James will also remain in the U.S. and compete alongside Arthur at the Mammoth Grand Prix in California.
 
In last week’s World Cup final, described by commentators as the “most impressive event in the history of snowboarding”, James claimed silver with a best score of 96.25.
 
“Australia, more now than ever in my career, I can really feel the energy and the camaraderie coming from them and I really appreciate it,” the 23-year-old said following the event.
 
With snow showers and low visibility on the forecast for Laax, Wednesday’s qualification runs were put on hold with event organisers hoping that a window will open on Thursday for combined qualifiers and semi-finals.
 
“But with more snow on the forecast, we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Johnstone said.
 
“Otherwise, everything is good and it’s great being back in Laax!”
 
For live updates from Laax click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Australia’s top female snowboarders have finished within the top 15 of the Halfpipe World Cup following Thursday’s qualification runs at Snowmass, Colorado.
 
However, with only the top eight making it through to finals, Emily Arthur, Torah Bright and Holly Crawford will not be competing on Saturday and will instead turn their focus to the next competition.
 
Arthur, who came to Colorado after securing her best ever World Cup result at China’s Secret Garden in December, finished 12th today with a best score of 60.25.
 
“I was very happy [with] how I performed considering how awful my practice was,” the 18-year-old said.
 
“I was able to somewhat pull something out when it counted and I’m very happy about that! The pipe and the atmosphere was really fun, I was back with all my American friends which definitely upped the vibes.”
 
Fellow Aussie and three-time Olympian Holly Crawford finished in 14th place with a best score of 56.75 while Torah Bright wasn’t far behind, placing 15th with a best score of 55.75.
 
Bright, who like Crawford is hoping to compete in her fourth Winter Olympics, recently stepped up to the podium twice during the North-American Cup circuit in December after making a stunning return to the Snowboard Halfpipe competition.
 
The last chance for Australia’s Halfpipe riders to secure crucial qualification spots for the PyeongChang Games will be at the next World Cup in Laax, Switzerland from the 17 – 20 January.
 
Arthur, however, will not be competing in Switzerland, instead opting to stay at her “home mountain” in Mammoth, California to compete in the Mammoth Grand Prix and spend time testing out new tricks prior to the Winter Games.

“My coach and I thought it would be good to compete there and get some extra training in and not worry about travelling so close to the Olympics,” she said.
 
As for the men, 2017 World Champion Scotty James qualified for the 10-man Halfpipe final on Saturday after placing second in his qualification heat with a score of 88.75.
 
Unfortunately James’ fellow Aussies Kent Callister and Nate Johnstone did not qualify for the finals, with Callister placing 19th following a best run score of 59.25 and Johnstone 36th with 19.00.
 
The halfpipe finals will be broadcast live on Eurosport from 7am AEDT on Sunday morning. For live results click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE or Facebook HERE.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Australian halfpipe World Champion Scotty James has finished ninth in the opening World Cup of the season.

After topping the qualification heats on Friday, James was unable to replicate his near perfect scores finishing with a best total of 38.75 in the ten man final.

Japan's Ayuma Hirano claimed the victory with a score of 95.25 ahead of the USA's Ben Ferguson and Shaun White.

The VIS rider was unable to stick any of his runs, opening with a 19.00, before putting together his best run of 38.75 before closing out with a 16.75.

Fellow Australian Kent Callister finished 23rd overall.

In the women’s event Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic silver medallist Emily Arthur put down two solid runs of 58.66 and 60.00 to finish ninth in her qualification heat and an overall placing of 16th.

The women's event was an American clean sweep, with Chloe Kim taking the win ahead of Maddie Mastro and Kelly Clark.

James and his Australian teammates will now turn their attention to the Dew Tour event at Breckenridge which begins on Thursday.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

It didn’t take very long for Scotty James to show why he is the world’s leading halfpipe rider.

The 23-year-old VIS World Champion threw down a near perfect 97.00 second run to win his qualification heat and record the highest score of the day at the opening World Cup of the season at Copper Mountain.


Competing in the opening qualification heat, James scored 92.33 on his first run before going even bigger next time down.

Japan’s Raibu Katayama also impressed with a 96.00 in his opening run of the second qualification heat while USA star Shaun White scored a 94.33 to set up a tantalising final on Sunday morning.

Fellow Aussie and Sochi 2014 Olympian Kent Callister scored 64.00 and 63.33 to finish 11th in James’ heat.

In the women’s event Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic silver medallist Emily Arthur put down two solid runs of 58.66 and 60.00 to finish ninth in her qualification heat.

The USA’s Maddie Mastro and Chloe Kim dominated proceedings with best scores of 91.33 and 89.00 as they easily progressed through to the eight-strong final.

With qualification out of the way James will now look to perform when it counts – in the ten-man final.

That goes down from 5am on Sunday morning (AEDT).

Live scoring will be available here>>> and you can watch the event live on Eurosport – Channel 511 on Foxtel. 

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

IMAGE: the Copper Mountain Halfpipe © FIS

Scotty James has put down “the run of his life” to win gold at the Phoenix PyeongChang Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup.

His third and final run in today’s competition not only secured James the individual World Cup victory, but he takes home the overall 2016/2017 Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup series crown.

In an Australian first, Scotty James is the current World Cup, World Championship and X Games champion. He wears three of the four major world snowboard halfpipe crowns, the fourth being Olympic glory.

“I am absolutely over the moon!” James said.

“I knew what I had to do to come away with a win today and I just had to let the rest do the talking.

“To come away on top is just an amazing feeling.”

The two-time VIS Olympian qualified for the final in fifth place. After a shaky start, only scoring 24.75 points in the first run of the final, James returned to his exceptional form to score 92.25 in the second run, before his series winning 96-point performance.


“The first one was just trying to get the jitters out,” the 22-year-old said.

“I unfortunately came unstuck, but was able to put the next two down and probably the run of my life on the last one.

“I knew I had to mix it up to come away with a win today, especially with a field like there is here.”

To claim the win, James had to defeat legendary American snowboarder Shaun White.

White is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, and winner of 24 winter and summer X Games medals in
snowboarding and skateboarding.

Winner of the Mammoth World Cup last weekend, White threatened James’ victory today, finishing second overall, a mere one point behind James with a score of 95. China’s Yiwei Zhang won bronze with 93.25.

James entered the final World Cup event sitting in second place on the overall leader board with 1700 points, trailing American Chase Josey by 260 points.

His victory at Bokwang Snow Park scored him 1000 points towards the discipline world standings and he claimed the overall series with 2700 points.

Josey finished second overall with 2360 points and White won bronze with 1930 points.

James is having the season he’s always hoped for.

After finishing in the top 10 for all World Cup events this season - including winning silver in Laax in January – the 2015 World Champion won gold in the men’s SuperPipe at the 2017 Aspen X Games on Australia Day.

“I am in a really good place at the moment on my board and off my board – life is really good.

“I’ve made big changes in my off-season and my pre-season. I started to take myself a little bit more seriously and approach it with a different attitude, and I will continue to do that.”

To further sweeten today’s glory, his win comes at the Test Event for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

According to James the pipe itself is exceptional, as is the atmosphere in PyeongChang.

“It has been an amazing week here in Korea – they have put on an amazing event for us.

“I absolutely love South Korea. The people here have been awesome, everyone loves snowboarding and is very supportive and helpful.

“And then the halfpipe obviously - they really turned that up for us.

“They’ve put on a really good pipe and I’m sure it’s going to be exactly the same next year, so I think we can expect another really fierce competition in a year’s time.”

Teammate Kent Callister also qualified for today’s 10-man final, finishing in eighth place; while Nate Johnstone finished 31st.

In the women’s competition, 2016 Youth Olympian Emily Arthur had her first top-10 finish for the season, placing 10th with a run of 72.25. Triple Olympian Holly Crawford placed 13th and is now heading to Sapporo to represent Australia at the Asian Winter Games.

Although the World Cup season has come to an end, it is not the end of the Northern Hemisphere winter season for our snowboarders. James will now fly back to the US for the next American Cup, before defending his World Championship title in Sierra Nevada, Spain in March.

And he cannot wait for more to come.

“I’m in a really good place now, but I’ve still got a bit of a fire under my butt!

“I still want to keep on pushing and I’ve got stuff to work on to keep solidifying my place on top of the podium.

“I’ve now got a bit of a target on my back, but I like this position and I will keep working hard to make sure I can stay on top.”

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

IMAGE: Halfpipe World Cup podium with (ltr) 2nd Shaun White (USA), 1st Scotty James (AUS) and 3rd Yiwei Zhang (CHN) in Bokwang Phoenix Park. Photo: Mateusz Kielpinski

Weather has played havoc at the US Snowboard and Freeskiing Grand Prix event in Mammoth Mountain, CA, USA, with events shortened or cancelled completely.
 
The US Grand Prix also doubles as a FIS World Cup event counting towards Olympic qualification. Unfortunately, wild weather featuring high winds and snow forced the cancellation of the men’s Slopestyle Skiing event which was to feature Russ Henshaw and Ryley Lucas. The extremely heavy conditions led to the men’s Snowboard Halfpipe and Slopestyle qualification rounds to be abandoned.
 
In total, four top ten performances where achieved by the Australian athletes across three different disciplines.
 
The highlight of the event was 16-year-old NSWIS Snowboarder Tess Coady placing sixth in the slopestyle final in her first ever World Cup. Jess Rich was unable to advance to the eight woman final, finishing in 21st place.
 
VIS 2017 X-Games Gold Medallist Scotty James was the leading Australian male in the men’s Snowboard Halfpipe, finishing in sixth place. NSWIS riders Kent Callister and Nathan Johnstone also had good runs in the difficult conditions placing eighth and eleventh respectively.
 
In the women’s Snowboard Halfpipe, Holly Crawford made a positive start to her first event of the season finishing in eighth place, just missing advancing to the final by two places. Emily Arthur was also in action with a 14th place qualification performance.
 
The Snowboard Halfpipe athletes now head to PyeongChang, Korea, for the Olympic Test Event World Cup, with the Slopestyle Snowboarders and Skiers off to World Cup events in Quebec City, Canada.

IMAGE: Tess Coady in nicer weather conditions at Mammoth at the start of the week! © Tess Coady Instagram

After becoming one of the nation’s youngest ever Winter Olympians in 2010, James competed at his second Games in 2014 and went on to become World Champion in 2015.
 
It wasn’t much of a surprise then when he went out and backed up his World Cup silver to start 2017 with X Games gold last weekend in Aspen.
 
“It was overwhelming,” James said.
 
“I had so much support from Australia as well as the US on the back of the event. It was quite special having some of the family at the bottom there watching too.”
 
The young gun will now look to continue that hot form when he hits the pipe at the Mammoth Mountain World Cup event in California this weekend.
 
“I am feeling great on my board and the past couple of competitions have been a result of my preparation for this year. It's been an awesome ride so far and looking forward to more.
 
“I have come down with a bit of a cold post X Games but I have been up riding the practice days. I really love Mammoth and the pipe here and am excited for this week.”
 
James will be joined by rising star and 2016 Winter Youth Olympic silver medallist Emily Arthur and three-time Olympian Holly Crawford.
 
Arthur recently finished 19th at the opening World Cup event of the season in Copper Mountain and will be looking to push her way up the rankings.
 
“It's been super fun being out in Mammoth and the pipe is insanely good,” said Arthur.
 
“It’s also nice as I have been based here this season so it's kind of like being on my home turf.”
 
“It's such a stacked field out here I'm just planning to go out, land some runs and have fun. Hopefully it will pay off.”
 
Like many of her Australian counterparts Arthur was stoked to see one of her teammates rise to the top of the sport.
 
“Scotty has been killing the game and it's so rad to see, it's kept Australia frothing and me too for sure.
 
“Hopefully some of his success rubs off on us.”
 
For Crawford the event will be a chance to get back on the snow as she competes at her first FIS event in just under 12 months as she looks to push towards a fourth Olympic appearance in PyeongChang.
 
“I’ve only been back on my board for a little over a week since early March last year so I’m just hoping to get back into the swing of things and hopefully come out with a good result,” Crawford said.
 
“The pipe has been really good here and practice has gone well. Unfortunately there is some bad weather coming in so fingers crossed it holds off.”
 

Current World Champion Snowboarder Scotty James has made a strong start to his 2016-2017 northern hemisphere season, finishing fourth in the halfpipe final at the US Snowboard Grand Prix/World Cup event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.
 
Competing in the best of three run final, the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) athlete produced his best in the third run, scoring 88.75 to narrowly miss out on the podium.

Ahead of Scotty where Swiss riders Patrick Burgener and 2014 Olympic Champion Iouri Podladtchikov, who took out the first two places of the podium withh American Chase Josey in third.

Post-race, James said he was happy with the result despite the weather and equipment issues, grateful for his best off-season to date.

"Due to the weather, my snowboards I was riding through practise couldn't cut it on Semi-Finals day. I ended up riding my coach James Jacksons snowboard in Semi finals which was 10cms too short and a board I have never ridden before," he explained.

"For finals I rode a two year old board I pulled from the archives but with a strong preparation for the season, nothing was gonna stop me!"

"Would have been great to finish on the podium but I'm fired up and ready for the next competition in LAAX."

James will head back home to Warrandyte in Victoria for Christmas, before jumping straight back onto a plane to the US to begin his next preparation. 

In the women's final, teenage sensation Chloe Kim took first place with Chinese athletes Jiayu Liu and Xuetong Cai  in second and third place.
 
The qualification round took place a few days earlier, featuring Kent Callister, Nathan Johnstone and Emily Arthur. Unfortunately all three athletes where unable progress to the final, with Kent and Nathan finishing in 15th and 41st place with Emily 19th.

Current World Champion Snowboarder Scotty James has made a strong start to his 2016-2017 northern hemisphere season, qualifying second in his heat to advance through to the halfpipe final at the US Snowboard Grand Prix/World Cup event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.
 
Competing under the best of two runs format in the heat round, The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) athlete produced his best in the second run, scoring 83.75 to secure one of the ten places available in the final.
 
Also in action in the men’s event for Australia, but unable to qualify for the final was Kent Callister in 15th and Nathan Johnstone 41st.
 
In the women’s event, NSWIS Youth Olympic Winter Games Silver Medallist Emily Arthur was unable to qualify for the six-person final, finishing in 19th place.
 
After the successful qualification round, James commented.
 
“Competed in some interesting conditions today, but pulled through. Excited for finals!”
 
The men’s Halfpipe Snowboard final featuring Scotty James will take place Friday afternoon in the USA, Saturday morning AEST.
 
 

A brilliant effort from 17-year-old Emily Arthur during last weekend's halfpipe final of the season opening 2016 U.S Revolution Tour, landed her in fourth place as she continued her outstanding push up the world rankings.

The talented Aussie who trains with the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS), fought hard in a highly-contested event against Olympic standard athletes to score 110 points in the opening halfpipe competition of the season at Colorado's Copper Mountain.

Currently ranked 13th in the world, Arthur has been in solid form since her silver medal at the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games and will be one to watch in the coming years as she works towards PyeongChang in 2018.
​
In the Men’s field, Nathan Johnston finished with a score of 70.40 to sit in an impressive 8th in the final standings, while Scotty James and Kent Callister did not compete.

The event is the perfect warm-up to the Grand Prix World Cup later this week, also based at Copper Mountain, with all four Aussies competing.

Three Australians will be aiming to impress in the Snowboard Halfpipe as the 2017 U.S Revolution Tour kicks off tonight (AEDT) at Colorado’s Copper Mountain.

Scotty James, Kent Callister and Nathan Johnstone will all contest the first of four stops on the tour in Copper’s world class 19-meter superpipe, their first time on the pipe for the season.

James and Callister have both been training in New Zealand during Spring and will be keen to start the year off with success.

The start of the tour itself was interrupted due to unreasonably warm temperatures and delays in halfpipe construction, condensing the competition to just one halfpipe event instead of two.

In a statement on the official World Snowboard Tour (WST) website, USSA Director of Events Eric Webster said, “Weather has been a challenge this season but the Main Vein Superpipe upholds its reputation as one of the top venues in North America while the Rev Tour remains a top competition for these up-and-coming athletes.”

The national-level event brings together Olympic hopefuls who will earn points for their overall ranking in the WST.

22-year-old James, currently ranked 15th in the world, will headline the Aussie brigade, aiming to match his successful 2013/14 season where he finished 5th in the overall World Tour rankings.

The youngest of the three, 21-year-old Callister is ranked 26th and will be searching for a repeat of his success at the Tour in 2012 where he won best trick with a FS inverted 900. Johnstone is ranked 37th.

Qualification starts early morning Sunday, followed by the Final.

Keep your eye out in the Ladies for 17-year-old  Emily Arthur, one of Australia’s brightest talents who won Silver in the halfpipe at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games in February. Her qualification is at 2:30am, with the final starting at 3:50am.
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For more information on the Revolution Tour, visit www.ussnowboarding.com/revolutiontour