Australian athletes have had a record day at the winter X-Games in Aspen, USA, featuring a first ever double medal performance in the halfpipe with Scotty James claiming his sixth X-Games victory together with super teen Valentino Guseli in bronze and his first X-Games podium. Tess Coady also claimed her first X-Games hardware with silver in the ladies snowboard slopestyle.

In snowy conditions in front of a huge crowd at the Aspen halfpipe, VIS athlete James was again the dominant rider, with two outstanding runs giving him back-to-back victories at the event. With victory secure, James could perform a “victory lap” on his third and final run, high fiving the crowd on his way down. Only the legendary Shaun White has more X-Games halfpipe titles with eight.

NSWIS teen snowboarding prodigy Valentino Guseli was also impressive with his maiden podium performance at the X-Games, with a spectacular third and final run to put him into second place. Swiss rider Jan Scherrer just managed to relegate Guseli into third place on his final run.

“This feels amazing, it’s hard to put into words how excited I am,” James said after his run.

“It was pretty challenging conditions to say the least as it was dumping so much, but I feel really happy to be riding with everyone and seeing how all adapted to the conditions.”

SLOPESTYLE SILVER FOR COADY
In the slopestyle event, 2022 Olympic bronze medallist Coady had her best result of the season to claim her first ever medal at the X-Games, and be the first Australian snowboard slopestyle medallist finishing in second place.

The NSWIS rider moved into first place in her third and final run, and was unlucky to not take the win, with the judges awarding first place to Olympic Champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott on the last run of the day. Rounding out the podium was Kokomo Murase of Japan in third.

The following day Coady was back in action competing in the big air event, where she finished in eighth place.

Teen sensation Valentino Guseli has capped off an impressive week in Laax, Switzerland, with a second top-five performance, this time in the slopestyle discipline.

Guseli had his best run in the slopestyle final in his opening run, scoring 78.30 points. Unfortunately, he was not able to improve his score in the second run, finishing the event in fifth place, just 1.93 points off the podium. 

"My goal here was to just make finals in both events, which I was happy to have done" said the 17-year-old from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

"Pipe finals got cancelled last night, but was happy with where I stood in qualifications and today we had slope finals and I didn't quite get the run I wanted to, but still landed a run I was happy with and ended up getting fifth."

"It's pretty good for my second time trying to mix halfpipe and slopestyle in the same competition, so I am happy I have been consistent and landed my stuff, and look forward to trying to get podiums in both events next time."

NSWIS Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady was unlucky not to score higher from the judges in her qualifying run to advance to the top eight for finals, finishing 12th.

Also in action for Australia were NSWIS riders Meila Stalker in 23rd in her first ever World Cup slopestyle start, and youngster Jesse Parkinson in 55th.

Coady and Guseli will now head to Aspen, USA, for the X-Games which will run from January 27-29, with Coady competing in the slopestyle and big air, with Guseli confirmed for the halfpipe and an alternate in big air.

Japananese athletes swept the podium, with Taiga Hasegawa in first with 186 points, Ryoma Kimata in second with 182.50 and Kira Kimura scoring 181.75 to place third.
 
Guseli finished first on the seasons standings with 214 points, 18 ahead of Corning on 196 with Marcus Kleveland of Norway in third with 140.
 
The NSWIS teenager’s highlight result of the season was his first career gold medal in Edmonton, Canada, during December.
 
“Firstly, wow. So hyped,” Guseli said, holding his new trophy.
 
“I knew coming here it was a possibility to get the globe and I wanted to make it so bad, because it was a good opportunity to get this beautiful thing that is definitely going in my pool room.
 
“But I knew I had to beat Chris (Corning) who, out of anyone in the field, is probably the person you least want to have to beat, because he’s just so good and consistent. I think he’s won seven (crystal globes). So, I’m super happy. It was a battle and I landed my stuff. Couldn’t really ask for much more.”
 
In her first event of the season. Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady was unlucky not to advance to finals of the women’s big air, just missing out by one place in ninth.
 
Also competing for Australia in Kreischberg was rookie NSWIS rider Melia Stalker who finished in 13th place in her World Cup debut and Jesse Parkinson in 31st.
 
The park and pipe athletes will be in action next weekend competing at the Laax Open in Switzerland, with a slopestyle and halfpipe event scheduled for January 21.
 
Scotty James will also compete in his first halfpipe event of 2023 wearing the yellow leader’s bib after winning the opening World Cup event in Copper Mountain, USA, in mid-December.

Teen sensation Valentino Guseli has finished the snowboard season on a high, capturing a bronze medal at the World Cup slopestyle final in Silvaplana, Switizerland.
 
The medal is Guseli’s second of the season in slopestyle and shows what an amazing talent the 16-year-old is after placing sixth in the halfpipe discipline at the Beijing Olympic Games in February.
 
It was almost a double podium for Australia, with Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady just missing the podium in fourth place.
 
Guseli was one of the most consistent riders in the final, scoring 83.40 points on his first run, and then increased his score in the second run with 89.40 points to finish in third place. The top two spots on the podium went to Norway, with Marcus Kleveland taking the victory with his teammate Mons Roisland in second.
 
“My goal was to just land my runs and I knew that if I did that, I would be happy” said Guseli who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW south coast.
 
“I put all my mental and physical power into my first run just to make sure that I ended up on my feet at the end. Once I got my first run down, I knew that the only way I could go was up.
 
“On the next run I just went for it with some of the biggest tricks that I can do. I was super stoked to get to the bottom of that second run and was very happy to get third.
 
“That was the most heated slope style final that I’ve ever been in. As much as the boys were definitely throwing down it was a very upbeat and very positive vibe up there for sure.
 
“It’s been such a blast getting back into slopestyle, I have been doing it since I was young and to be back doing it again after just doing pipe for the start of this season has been very enjoyable.”
 
Guseli finished the FIS World Cup season ranked fourth overall on the slopestyle standings.

Teen snowboard sensation Valentino Guseli has finished in 16th place at the slopestyle World Cup in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.

The 2022 Olympic Halfpipe finalist was drawn in heat one for slopestyle qualifying in Splindleruv Mlyn, and put down an impressive first run to score 85.33 points to advance to the final in third place.

Unfortunately in the final Guseli was unable to complete his two runs, and finished in 16th place overall.

Also in action for Australia was Jesse Parkinson in 26th.

The final World Cup slopestyle event of the season will take place in Silvaplana, Switzerland, next weekend on March 25-27.

Joining Guseli on the entry list for Silvaplana will be Tess Coady and Matt Cox, who will both return to competition for the first time since the Beijing Olympics, with Melia Stalker to make her World Cup debut, and Parkinson first reserve in the men's event.

Beijing 2022 bronze medallist Tess Coady has wrapped up her Olympic campaign with a top-10 finish in the women's snowboard big air.

After claiming Australia's first medal of the 2022 Olympic Games, Tess capped off her Games finishing ninth in the final.

"Really sick today, the jump is riding so good," Tess said.

"[The] weather is really good and we didn't have much of a head wind.

"Just from the practice this morning we understood it was going to be on, and everyone rode so well. It was really cool to be a part of.

"The big air [jump] was sick, everyone threw down... everyone rode super hard.

"On this stage, people just want to go for it. It's the pinnacle for us and everyone just rode really well and it was such a great competition.

"I didn't land my tricks but it was so good to see some really great riders land and end up on the podium."

She has thoroughly enjoyed her Olympic experience and doesn't go home empty handed.

"It's been unbelievable, I had such a good time.

"Coming here has been definitely challenging. I put all my energy into slopestyle because it was pretty much what I was here for.

"But I'm just so stoked to have made the finals [in big air] and just tried to make something I've never tried before and that was just really fun.

"It's definitely been a crazy road to get here, especially the last couple of years with COVID-19. But I'm so stoked to be here and the IOC has done an incredible job with COVID-19 [countermeasures] to make the Games so enjoyable and it's been a really great experience.

"Although I'm definitely looking forward to going home and see my family and friends."

Lauren Ryan

Tess Coady has become Australia's first medallist of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, taking out the bronze medal in the women's snowboard slopestyle at the Genting Snow Park.
 
It was pure elation for the 21-year-old from St Kilda in Melbourne, which finally puts the injury disappointment at PyeongChang 2018 behind her as she's become Australia's youngest woman to win a Winter Olympic medal.

Tess showed poise and skill beyond her years to post her bronze-medal clinching run, 84.15, on her last run in the competition. The score positioned her to occupy third position, after which she had to endure a nervous wait for the remaining competitors to potentially bump Tess off a podium finish.

She completed the podium with New Zealand's gold medallist Zoi Sadwoski Synnott who scored 92.88 and silver medallist Julia Marino from the United States of America whose best score from the judges was 87.68.

The bronze medal for Tess goes down as Australia's first ever Olympic medal in the snowboard slopestyle competition.

"That was wild, that was so insane," Tess said.

"Making it to the finals is always a win. Last night I was chatting to a friend and he said to me that I finally earned my ticket to freedom from the last four years.

"I really just took that mentality into today.

"I came back and got my redemption yesterday. Today I just wanted to have the best time and enjoy it the most and just send it."

Tess qualified for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics as Australia's youngest competitor at just 17 years-old. Unfortunately, she suffered a season-ending ACL injury during a training run on the Olympics course which robbed her of competing.

"It's crazy doing this kind of tour when you're a teenager. It's pretty easy to get to this big stage and think you're a rockstar. That kind of happened [to me], I just became complacent and sort of stopped working hard.

"[The injury] was totally kick up the arse that I needed to just get to work. In that whole year [rehabbing] I saw everyone getting so much better than me and when I got back on the snow, that was no excuses from here."

Tess knew she had the bronze medal locked up before the last run of the competition, which Sadwoski Synnott used to improve from a silver medal position to the gold medal.

The three medallists all share an extremely tight bond which dates back many competitions, and their emotions immediately spilled out together while sharing in each other's success.

"I love those girls so much. We're all so tight. It's pretty crazy in this sport, it's not like a lot of other sports where there's a lot of crazy competitiveness. There's nothing better than seeing someone land a good run.

"Julia, she's been struggling with slope events for the last year or two – not landing anything – and she was riding so good in the practice and it's so good to see her land something good because she deserves to be on that podium.

"And Zoe is one of my best mates. I'm just so, so hyped for her. She deserves that win so much."

After finishing yesterday's qualifying with the fifth best jump, Tess upped the ante in the final and set the tone for the rest of the field by being the first athlete of the competition to score over 80 with an 84.15.

The bronze medal for Tess becomes the 16th medal Australia has won in Winter Olympics history.

She had an encouraging result leading into the Beijing Olympics when she won bronze in the women's snowboard slopestyle at the 2021 World Championships in Aspen, Colorado.

olympics.com.au
Jeff Dickinson-Fox

Scotty James will head to the Beijing Olympic Winter Games full of confidence, after winning gold in the Halfpipe at the X-Games in Aspen, USA.
 
The 27-year-old snowboarder from Warrandyte, Melbourne, recorded his fourth X-Games victory with a number of impressive runs in the Aspen halfpipe, to finish ahead of Japanese riders Ayumu Hirano in second place, with his younger brother Kaishu Hirano in third.
 
Making his X Games debut, 16-year-old teen sensation Valentino Guseli from Dalmeny in NSW, finished in sixth place, with his highest score coming in the first run.
 
“It’s hard to put words on this honestly, after last week in Laax which was upsetting, and I just wanted to bounce back, I love Aspen, and I love this pipe” said James after completing his victory lap after being guaranteed the gold medal ahead of his final run.
 
“Ayumu is an amazing opponent and the rest of the field and I knew I had to bring my best, so I am absolutely thrilled.”
 
James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The Olympic bronze medallist in 2018 has a collection of X Games medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze), eleven FIS World Cup medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze) and four World Championship medals, including three gold.
 
Earlier in Aspen Tess Coady finished in sixth place in the snowboard slopestyle event.
 
The X-Games is the final event for James, Guseli and Coady before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.

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.

Tess Coady has finished the season with a bronze medal overnight at the World Cup snowboard slopestyle event in Silvaplana, Switzerland, giving her a seasons best end of season ranking of third in the world.
 
In the best of two run final, the 20-year-old from Melbourne put down two impressive runs, scoring 84 points on her first run and stepped it up on her final run to record a score of 86.25 points to secure the bronze medal in great conditions at the Swiss resort.
 
Coady’s run included in the top section of the course a switch backside blunt 270 out, cab 360 weddle, front 180 on 360 out on the rails and then a switch backside 900 melon, front 720 melon to tail, back 720 weddle, frontside crippler on the bottom section jumps.
 
Japan took the first two spots on the podium above Coady with Reira Iwabuchi taking the win with 91 points and Kokomo Murase in second place on 88.75 points.
 
The medal is Coady’s third of the season and the fifth major medal of her career (1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze).
 
“It feels incredible to finish this season on a high” said the World Championship bronze medallist.
 
“It's really been foot on the gas the past couple of weeks, so I'm stoked I was able to find another gear and push myself to the end.
 
“The conditions and the course were perfect. This has been my favourite contest set up this season.
 
“I'm super stoked with this season, I would have been psyched to land one podium let alone three. It's been amazing and I'm so lucky to be out here.”
 
Coady finished the season ranked third on the World Cup standings with 165 points, only one point behind Kokomo Murase on 166 points in second place. Anna Gasser of Austria won the Crystal Globe with the number one world ranking on 195 points.

In the men's event, 15-year-old NSWIS snowboarding prodigy Valentino Guseli competed in the second World Cup slopestyle event of his career, placing 12th in his heat, just short of the top-eight required to advance to the final. Guseli finished with a final ranking of 30th place.

Both riders missed out on the top-six required to advanced to the final with Cox ranked 13th after scoring 67 points in his first qualification run and Guseli 18th in his World Cup slopestyle debut with 52 points in his second run. The final ranking were 27th for Cox and 35th for Guseli.

NSWIS snowboarder Tess Coady has finished in fifth at the slopestyle World Cup event in Aspen, USA, ending a successful competition block highlighted by a bronze medal at the World Championships earlier in the week.

After qualifying for finals in eighth place, the 20-year-old from Melbourne had her best score in the first run scoring 60.15 points. Coady was unable to improve her score in the final two runs, finishing in fifth place.

Recording victory was Anna Gasser of Austria, with American Hailey Langland in second place and Enni Rukajarvi in third.

NSWIS riders Matt Cox and Valentino Guseli who, were both drawn to compete in heat number two for the men’s qualification round.

Both riders missed out on the top-six required to advanced to the final with Cox ranked 13th after scoring 67 points in his first qualification run and Guseli 18th in his World Cup slopestyle debut with 52 points in his second run. The final ranking were 27th for Cox and 35th for Guseli.

Marcus Kleveland of Norway took the win in the men's event, with Red Gerard of the USA in second position and third place going to Canadian Mark McMorris.

The slopestyle athletes will now head to Silvaplana, Switzerland, for the World Cup final on March 28.

Going into the final, Coady is ranked fourth on the World Cup standings with 105 points, 40 points behind Anna Gasser in first place, 35 points behind second ranked Jamie Anderson of the USA and 7 points behind Hailey Langland in third. IMAGE: A smiling Tess Coady after a successful week in Aspen © Chris Hocking

NSWIS snowboarder Tess Coady has had the best big air result of her career, finishing in fifth place at the World Championships in Aspen, USA.

The format for the big air final was three jumps per athlete, with the best two scores counting toward your total score.

Coady’s highest scoring jump was in run number one, with her switch backside 900 with stalefish grab scoring 81.75 points. Coady’s second highest score was in the third run, scoring 70 points for her frontside double 900 with indy grab. The two jump total for Coady was 151.75 points, giving her a final ranking of fifth.

The gold medal with a score of 177.75 points went to Canadian Laurie Blouin, with 2021 slopestyle World Champion Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand in second place with 176.75 points and Japanese rider Miyabi Onitsuka in third place with 174.75 points.

In the men’s final Matt Cox's two highest scoring jumps were his second jump, a frontside 1080 with indy grab scoring 46.75 points and on his third jump a cab 1260 with stalefish grab scoring 64.75 points. This gave Cox a two jump score of 111.50 and a final ranking of tenth.

Canada took the first two places in the men’s event with Mark McMorris of Canada in first place and Max Parrot in second, Norwegian Marcus Kleveland finished in third.

IMAGE: Matt Cox going big in Aspen © Chris Hocking

Tess Coady has taken bronze in Aspen, USA, joining the legendary Torah Bright as the only Australian snowboarder to win a World Championship medal in slopestyle.
 
In the best of three run final, the NSWIS snowboarder was super consistent, putting down good scores in each of her competition runs, with her highest score of 78.13 coming in run number two.
 
Coady’s run included a smooth rail section at the top of the course followed by the jump section with a switch backside 900, backside 720 and a frontside 720 with a double grab.
 
Taking the win was New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott with a score of 85.95 points, with two time Olympic champion Jamie Anderson of the USA in second place scoring 81.10 points.
 
“I am so stocked, it’s been a really great week here”, said the 2017 World Junior Champion from Melbourne.
 
“I was psyched when I made finals, but to come out with a podium is the best, it’s the cherry on top.
 
“It’s a tough field, the women are on another level at the moment and I am really excited to be a part of that.”
 
The medal is Coady’s second of the season and the fourth major medal of her career (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze).
 
Coady's NSWIS teammate Matt Cox placed 17th in his heat, missing out on the top eight required to reach the men's final.

It was a stellar start to the FIS World Cup slopestyle season for 20-year-old snowboarder Tess Coady, with a third place podium performance at the opening event of the season overnight in Laax, Switzerland.
 
The 2017 World Junior Champion from Melbourne qualified through to finals in sixth place at the prestigious event featuring a star studded field.
 
Finals competition took place in difficult conditions with competitors facing strong winds, with Coady producing her best in the second and final run scoring 76.93 to record the third World Cup podium of her career (1 gold, 2 bronze).
 
Coady’s run included a half cab over the tube to boardslide to fakie on the waterfall, cab 180 to backside 360 out on the pole jam, cripple Indy on the wing kicker, frontside 720 melon to tail grab, backside 900 weddle, switch backside 180 nose grab out on the watch.
 
“So stocked to have put down a good run and be back on the podium” said Coady after her podium performance.
 
“My cab 180 to backside 360 on the pole jam and the backside 900 both did a lot for me today.”
 
Taking the win was two time Olympic champion Jamie Anderson of the USA, with New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in third.
 
Coady will remain in Europe for training until the next events on the FIS competition calendar are confirmed.

NSWIS snowboard athletes Tess Coady and Matt Cox have taken part in their first World Cup event of the 2020/21 season, with a big air competition held with an all star field in Kreischberg, Austria.
 
In the qualifying round, Tess Coady placed 22nd with a two jump total score of 96.60 points, missing out on the six woman final in her first World Cup big air start since November 2019.
 
Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand took the win in the women’s event, with Kokomo Murase of Japan finishing second, with Anna Gasser of Austria in third place.
 
The men’s field for qualifying was split into two heats, with Matt Cox taking part in heat number one. He placed 13th in his heat with a two jump score of 123.60 points, placing him in an overall position of 27th.
 
The men’s event was won by Canadian Max Parrot, with Swedish rider Sven Thorgren in second and Mons Roisland in third.
 
The next event for the park and pipe athletes is in Laax, Switzerland with a slopestyle event scheduled on January 22 and halfpipe on January 23.

In the halfpipe event, Scotty James will be competing for the first time this season, and young gun Valentino Guseli also making his World Cup debut. Emily Arthur will also be in action in the women’s event.
 
Coady and Cox will feature again, this time in the slopestyle discipline.
 
IMAGE: Matt Cox flying high in Kreischberg © Matt Cox Instagram

Triple World Champion Scotty James relocated to Europe in August and has been training on snow over the past months preparing for the northern hemisphere winter.
 
Tess Coady, Matt Cox and Valentino Guseli all spent time in Perisher during the Australian winter, before travelling to Europe at the end of September for on snow training camps at air bag and glacier based terrain parks in Austria and Switzerland.
 
The Copper Mountain World Cup event scheduled for December was cancelled due to COVID restrictions in Colorado, and postponing the first events of the season until January

Tess Coady has completed an amazing comeback from injury, claiming Australia’s first ever World Cup slopestyle gold medal in Seiser Alm, Italy.

The 19-year-old from Melbourne qualified in third place, and in finals stomped a run that saw her do switch bluntslide to regular on the waterfall rail, a perfect skate-style backside lipslide on the down rail out of the butterbox, and a 50-50 backside 180 melon out on the flat rail.

Through the jump line Coady was especially clean, with a switch backside 540, a huge backside 720, and a corked frontside 720 on the final jump to earn a score of 73.48 that would withstand all challengers to come.

“I’m so hyped,” Coady smiled from the finish area before the awards ceremony, “It’s my first slopestyle back since the (PyeongChang 2018) Olympics, where I injured my knee, and I was expecting to come out here and just get some experience doing slopestyle and competing again because it’s been such a long time. I was not expecting to win. It’s amazing.

“I have so much respect for every person that’s gone through a knee injury. It’s such a long process. I had it in my mind that it would be like a year of rehab and I’d be back snowboarding, but the reality for me was that it’s take about two years to get back. There’s a lot of hurdles to get over. But I’m so happy I was able to persist through it all and I’m stoked to be back.”

Coady now has two World Cup medals, with her first podium coming in January 2018 at Snowmass, CO, USA, where she placed third.

Joining Coady on the podium was Katie Ormerod from Great Britain in second place, and Canadian Brooke Voigt in third.

NSWIS rider Matt Cox finished in 45th place in the qualification round, and did not progress through to the final.

The next World Cup slopestyle event will take place in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, on the 21st of March, the venue where Coady won double gold in slopestyle and big air at the World Junior Championships in 2017.

NSWIS Snowboarder Tess Coady has made a successful return to competition, finishing in 11th place at the Big Air World Cup in Modena, Italy.
 
The Modena Big Air was a scaffold ramp setup, with riders getting two jumps in the qualification round, with the highest of the two jumps counting for advancing to the six woman or 10 man final.
 
In her first event back since sustaining a knee injury at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Coady put down her highest scoring jump first up, with a score of 58 points putting her in 11th place.
 
In the men's event, NSWIS rider Matthew Cox was unable to back up his recent breakthrough fifth place finish at the World Cup in Cardona, New Zealand, finishing in 41st place.
 
The next competition on the schedule for Cox is the Big Air event in Beijing, China, with Coady looking at competing in January at the World Cup Slopestyle event in Seiser Aim, Italy.

At the annual and glittering national sporting night of nights in Melbourne, snowboarder Tess Coady was among five of Australia’s most promising athletes to be awarded a Sport Australia Hall of Fame 2019 Scholarship and Mentoring Program scholarship.

17-year-old Coady, a double World Junior Champion in Big Air and Slopestyle in 2017, was cruelly struck down by a training accident at PyeongChang on the eve of her Olympic competition but now sees the past eight months as a ‘blessing in disguise’.

Fresh from the excitement of the Gala evening at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne on Thursday, October 11, Coady is more energised than ever and looking forward to working with her mentor and Olympic gold medallist, Nick Green OAM from the Oarsome Foursome.  

“Nick is such a legend. I got to meet him a couple of weeks ago. He’s a really cool guy, and he introduced me to some Australian icons at the Gala,” Coady recounted.

“I met Layne Beachley and Wendy Botha, which was sick because they are so cool and super women in surfing. And Shane Gould – that was so great because we’ve been watching Survivor because of Lydia (Lassila).”

“They were all super friendly, down to earth people. Of course, I knew about them, but they wanted to know about me. I had such a great time chatting to them. They were interested to hear from me and really reinforced how beneficial this scholarship is.”

It has been a tough eight months for the Junior World Champion as she struggled to come to terms with a lost Olympic opportunity, yet, as she says, the benefits of this year will stand her in good stead.

“To be honest, it took me a bot of time to see the benefits,” she said of her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in February at PyeongChang.

“It’s been a blessing in disguise. I’ve stepped back and reviewed the past after being forced to take time off and to appreciate everything. Especially as this is my Year 12. What if I’d have been riding at the same time?”

“I have been empowered to go to the gym and that’s been really good.”

With VCE exams beginning at the end of October, Coady is already looking ahead to the northern hemisphere winter – bar the maths exam on her 18th birthday on November 2.  

“From mid-November I will be amping up my intensity in the gym and really trying to do everything I possible can to be strong and confident.”

“It looks like I will back on snow in mid to late January.”

Between final exams and gym, Coady plans to make the most of her scholarship and the mentoring with Nick Green. Mostly, it’s about wisdom – and that’s an uncommon trait for a teenager.

If the reaction to her scholarship is anything to go by and the ethos that is inculcated into our collective national sports psyche that honours the past, celebrating the present and embracing the future – then it is personified in young sports people like Tess Coady.

“I think I’m going to get a lot of wisdom from Nick. He has been to a lot of games, including winters. I really just think from his perspective and his knowledge that he’s going to be able to provide me with some rich technique – the little one percent things that make the difference, the mindset of competition and how he can pass that onto me.”  

SAHOF brings together Australian sporting legends, inducts new members and annually awards ‘the Don’ to an athlete who has surpassed all in their field. This year, that award went to wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley AO, who delivered a memorable acceptance speech. (here)

The scholarship program is designed to help young Australians reach the highest levels of their sport, by providing encouragement and funding over a 14-month period.

The five athletes chosen for 2019 include Olympic snowboarder Tess Coady, Paralympic distance runner Jaryd Clifford, rising rower Giorgia Patten, promising diver Cassiel Rousseau and motor racing prodigy Cameron Shields.

Coady will receive one-on-one personal mentoring from Olympic Rowing gold medallist Nick Green OAM who is a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, plus a $5,000 sporting expenses grant.

She only began competing internationally in 2017, winning the double Junior World titles in big air and slopestyle and was the youngest member to qualify for the for the Australian 2018 Winer Olympic Team. She was also recognised as the NSW Institute of Sport Young Athlete of the Year.  

“It is a great privilege to be able to pass on some of my knowledge to Tess,” Green said. “Having teenage daughters of my own, I know that I will be able to listen to Tess and support and guide her growth as an athlete.”

Ski and Snowboard Australia CEO Michael Kennedy also praised the Melbourne teenager.

"Despite suffering a bitter setback when she injured herself in training at the Olympics in Korea, the manner in which she handled that disappointment and has committed herself to her recovery and to her sport shows exactly the kind of character required to be a champion,” he said.

“We are excited for Tess’s future and particularly the opportunity for her to be mentored by an Australian sporting champion as part of the SAHOF mentor program.

Since the introduction of the Program in 2006, 76 scholarships across 34 sports have been awarded, with 20 past and present scholarship recipients recently represented Australia at the 2018 Winter Olympic & Paralympic Games and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games where past recipients captured six golds, seven silvers and one bronze medal.

Established in 1985, 2018 marked the 34th edition of Australian sport’s night of nights to perpetuate Australia’s rich sporting heritage, whilst promoting the values of courage, sportsmanship, integrity, mateship, persistence, and excellence, all underpinned by generosity, modesty, pride and ambition.

You can follow Tess Coady on Instagram tess_coady or on twitter @Tess_Coady

By Belinda Noonan
OWIA
 

PYEONGCHANG 2018: Tess Coady and Jessica Rich will make their Olympic debuts at PyeongChang 2018 in the snowboard disciplines of slopestyle and big air.

With quota places for snowboard slopestyle and big air being calculated as one event, the duo have the option to compete in both or one discipline.

17-year-old Coady won back-to-back Junior World Championship titles in both slopestyle and big air at the 2017 event in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic and with a current world ranking of 5th in slopestyle and 22nd in big air, will aim to compete in both events in South Korea.

“It feels pretty crazy to think soon I will be able to say that I am an Olympian,” Coady said.

“It has been a dream of mine since a young age to go to the Olympics but I never knew what sport I would go for. If someone told me when I was eight years-old that I would be going to the Olympics at 17 for snowboard slopestyle I would have laughed.”

The rider from St Kilda, Victoria, will make her Games debut fresh off Australia’s first ever slopestyle World Cup medal; bronze from the Snowmass event in January.

Coady is the youngest member of the 2018 Australian Olympic Winter Team and says she looks to the more experienced athletes for guidance.

“Chumpy Pullin has always been someone I have looked up to from a really young age. His mental game is so strong and it shows in his riding, I think he is really hungry for this Olympics,” she said.

“Scotty James is always super fun to watch especially these past two seasons he has been on a roll and his attitude towards competing is really inspiring.

“The Team that is going is a super cool group of people and I think there will be really good vibes and lots of support for everyone competing and I can’t wait.”

27-year-old Rich has been selected in the 2018 Team subject to medical clearance. Rich is bouncing back from a knee injury but is still determined to wear the green and gold on the slopes of Bokwang Phoenix Park, having chosen to focus solely on the slopestyle event.

The Manly-local burst onto the international scene two years ago when she placed eighth at the Olympic Test Event in PyeongChang in February 2016.

After signing her first professional contract with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia in 2016 she has recorded four top-10 World Cup performances.

The women’s snowboard slopestyle event will be held at Bokwang Phoenix Park with qualification on Day 2 (February 11) and finals on Day 3 (February 13). The big air events will be held at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre with qualifications on Day 10 (February 19) and finals Day 14 (February 23).

Find out more about snowboarding at PyeongChang 2018 HERE.
​
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

​Less than a week since claiming Australia’s first Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup medal, PyeongChang hopeful Tess Coady will compete in the season’s last Olympic qualifier at Laax, Switzerland.
 
The Junior Snowboard World Champion started 2018 “with a bang” after taking bronze in Snowmass, Colorado on Friday -- a moment that she said was indescribable.
 
Finishing the day with a best score of 75.43, a mere 01.63 points separated the 17-year-old Victorian high school student and the event’s gold medallist, Kiwi Christy Prior.
 
Current world number one Reira Iwabuchi from Japan finished the day in second with a score of 76.48.
 
Coady, who is now ranked fifth in the discipline, said that she was “feeling pretty good” heading to the Swiss ski resort this week and hoped to replicate another high scoring run.
 
“The last time I was there the course was pretty sweet,” she said.
 
“[It’s] a pretty long course too kind of like this one but yeah, that should be good fun too so just [going to] go and try and get something down there too.”

​The young gun rose to prominence in 2017 after she claimed both the Big Air and Slopestyle Junior World Championships within the space of two days in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.
 
Fellow Aussie Matthew Cox, who finished in 34th place at Snowmass with a best score of 20.25, won’t be joining Coady in Switzerland.
 
Instead, the 19-year-old will remain in the U.S. and compete at the Mammoth Snowboard Grand Prix in California with qualifications to be held on 18th January.
 
The final Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup before PyeongChang kicks off on Wednesday 17 January, with finals held on Friday. For live results click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Junior Snowboard World Champion Tess Coady has started the year “with a bang” after taking bronze in the Slopestyle World Cup final in Snowmass, Colorado on Friday.
 
The 17-year-old is the first Australian snowboarder to win a Slopestyle World Cup medal, with Torah Bright previously being the only Aussie medallist in the discipline after taking bronze in the 2013 World Championships.
 
Cody was “so hyped” to finish the day in third place and to step up onto her first World Cup podium.
 
“I can’t even describe it,” she said.
 
“Practice was rough, everyone was knuckling so much so it was really sketchy and then I made a decision to pull out the bottom jump which was pretty good.”
 
After a “pretty mellow” first run, Coady spent most of Friday’s finals in second place before her third run briefly bumped her into the top spot with a best score of 75.43
 
“My second run had some problems with speed because of the wind,” she said.
 
“In my third run I did a trick I haven’t done all season which I was pretty nervous about, I just haven’t had a good chance to do any this year because sometimes my first run’s a bit sketchy but I was STOKED!”
 
Kiwi Christy Prior ultimately ended the day in first place with a score of 77.06, while 16-year-old and current world number one Reira Iwabuchi from Japan finished second with 76.48.
 
Coady, who is still in high-school, only started competing internationally in 2017 and rose to prominence after claiming both the Big Air and Slopestyle Junior World Championships within the space of two days in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.
 
The young gun, who is now ranked fifth overall in Snowboard Slopestyle, has previously said that a combination of nerves, self-belief and big crowds is the key to getting her “amped up” whenever she competes.
 
With the PyeongChang Winter Olympics just 27-days away Coady now turns her attention to the next World Cup in Laax, Switzerland which will be held from 17 – 19 January.
 
“I’m feeling pretty good,” she said.
 
“The last time I was there the course was pretty sweet, pretty long course too kind of like this one but yeah, that should be good fun too so just [going to] go and try and get something down there too.”

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

Touted as likely to be the toughest Big Air World Cup field this season, the women’s Copper Mountain event lived up to predictions with 37 riders, many of whom were from the US and vying for a place on the American Olympic squad.

Just turned 17-year-old Tess Coady, who burst onto the international scene eight months ago winning two Junior Snowboard World Championship titles for Australia in Slopestyle and Big Air, made an exciting start to her Olympic season, placing tenth in the qualifying.

Despite not making the final in such a competitive field, Tess was ‘stoked’ with her result.

“I was very happy to land two solid jumps and particularly happy to score 80 points and finish in the top ten,” she said.

“The vibe on course was intense -  being a US Team qualifying event. All the girls were riding really well and the standard was really high.”

“We had some pretty rough days of practice weather wise which made it hard to get the feel for the jump but on comp day the sun was out and there was no wind and the jump was riding super well,” Coady explained.
 
“I was super stoked to land both of my runs. It was a new trick that I have never done in a competition before (double wildcat) and it helped me break away from the rest of the field a bit.”
 
“All the girls were riding super well in quals and unfortunately my trick wasn't quite enough to get in to finals but I am heading back to Mammoth now to hopefully clean it up a bit.”

NSWIS team-mate Jess Rich, who was coming off seventh and sixth places at two previous World Cups in Europe placed 20th, scoring 60 points.
 
With the Big Air World Cups now completed before the PyeongChang Games in February, Rich and Coady will now turn their attention to Snowboard Slopestyle World Cups in January at Snowmass, USA on January 10 to 12 and then Laax in Switzerland from January 17 to 19.
 
Belinda Noonan
OWIA
 

Junior World Champion Tess Coady has finished 11th at the opening Big Air World Cup of the season in Milan.Building towards what would be her Olympic debut in PyeongChang, the 17-year-old was in seventh after the first round of qualification following a score of 71.25.

Needing to be in the top six to make the final, Coady improved her score to 76.25 but it wasn’t enough to progress as she finished 5.25 points away from the cut-off.

"I was super happy with how I went," Coady said.

"It was a bit challenging as we only had a couple of hours practice on the jump but I was really happy with how it turned out."

World Champion Anna Gasser of Austria claimed the victory in the final ahead of Great Britain’s Katie Ormerod and Switzerland’s Sina Candrian.

On what was her Big Air World Cup debut in Milan, Coady was the youngest in the field and despite not making the final it was a positive result for her having only started competing on the international scene at the start of the year.

"It's super cool to be one of the younger riders out there," Coady continued.

"I hope to improve my riding so I can be making the finals in these big airs in the future."

The young gun rose to prominence by claiming both the Big Air and Slopestyle Junior World Championships in the space of a couple of days in April.

She is now looking forward to the next event on her schedule.

"I am off to Copper (Colarado) for the Big Air next and I would be stoked to get some solid tricks landed and be up in the mix with the top riders."

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au