​Five-time Olympian Scotty James has added another Olympic medal to his collection, winning silver in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe in one of the most impressive Halfpipe finals in history.
 
James is now the most decorated Australian Winter Olympian having won bronze in PyeongChang, silver in Beijing and now silver in Milano Cortina. He is the only Winter Olympian with three medals.   

Article courtesy olympics.com.au / Images Copyright Chris Hocking
 
“To be the most medal-winning Aussie Winter Olympian is amazing, it’s special to be able to accomplish that,” James said.
 
“To have done it over that many years, it’s freaking hard to say the least, just to show up here and be competitive is hard.”
 
With James’ silver following Josie Baff’s Snowboard Cross gold earlier in the day, it becomes the most successful day in Australian Winter Olympic history.
 
“It's unbelievable to be a part of, and obviously I was watching them [Josie Baff and Cooper Woods] inspired, wanting to do the same.
 
“For Australian Winter sport, we're heading in the right direction and it's been amazing to be part of it.”
 
In an epic final where the best of three runs counts, James narrowly missing the landing on his first run.
 
His second run started with a near-perfect cab 1440 triple cork and finished with an impressive backside 1440 to score 93.50 and put him in the silver medal position. 
 
His third and final run kicked off with a 1440 to a frontside 1260, then delivered a clean backside 1080 double cork, but James just missed the landing on his backside 1620. 
 
Japan’s Totsuka Yuto landed a 95.00 on his second run that could not be beaten, with his countryman Yamada Ryusei rounding out the podium with a score of 92.00 to take bronze.
 
James said that while it was the gold he was hunting for, he was proud to have put everything into his performance and win another silver medal.
 
“At the end of the day it's not exactly the result I wanted, but I don't go up there for the results,” he said.
 
“I absolutely love it and I didn't start this for potentially winning a medal or not. I did this because it's my passion, my life.
 
“In the next 24-hours, I’ll probably have a bit of a cry, but I’ll be happy as well because representing the country and winning a medal is unbelievable and I'm really proud of that.
 
“I'll wake up and still be thinking of what I'm going to do on my board and looking forward to the next opportunity. I look forward to many more battles in the halfpipe.”
 
Coming into the Games, James was vocal about his goal to push the sport beyond its limits and said he was determined to try a 1620 (an extra half rotation) on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
 
“I potentially could have done it with a 14[40], but for myself I had to do the 16[20], I wanted to push it, that’s what I was here to do, regardless of the result.
 
“It was really going to be for me that run, but I’ll have to keep pushing it in the future.”

Valentino Guseli also impressed in the pipe under lights, placing fifth – one better than his Beijing 2022 result.
 
In his first run, Guseli wowed the crowd as he launched a massive 6.1M out of the pipe.
 
In this third and final fun, the 20-year-old kicked off with an alleyoop backside 360 at 5.6M, only to soar 5.8M out of the pipe on his second hit. Putting down a clean run that ended with a switch backside 1260, Guseli scored 88.00 - a run that would have seen him claim the bronze at Beijing 2022.
 
“That kind of finals pressure in the Olympics is massive and I think everyone felt it a little bit, Yuto managed to feel it the least and put down the best run,” Guseli said.
 
“I definitely think I could have ridden better... I still believe if I did my best snowboarding I could have won, but I didn’t and that’s the nature of the game.
 
“The standard was huge tonight, it was the biggest comp of all time, it was insane.”
 
With an exceptionally high standard of riding, the top-six athletes in Milano Cortina all put down runs what would have won medals four years ago in Beijing.
 
“It’s been crazy watching the progression over the many years and Olympics that I've gone to, it’s been amazing,” James said.
 
"I don't think the progression has been that rapid in 12 months ever. There were times where I was like, ‘I hope it slows down’ but it didn't.
 
“I'm pushing it, they're pushing it, so I'm as equally responsible, but it's been cool to be a part of it.”

Article courtesy olympics.com.au

With dominant opening runs, Scotty James and Valentino Guseli have both secured their place in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe finals. 

James was the eighth rider to drop in and wasted no time launching into massive 1440s to put down an opening run score of 94.00 – a score that remained at the top of the scoreboard for the 40 runs that followed. 

His second run wasn’t as clean, but with his mission accomplished, it locked him in as the top-ranked qualifier, meaning he will drop in last in the 12man final. 

“I wanted to come out and put my best foot forward to try and qualify first,” the five-time Olympian said. 

“I feel like being in that position in the final is a really good place to be – you can be a little bit more mindful and strategic in the approach when it comes to the competition on Friday.  

“I pushed it a little bit more in qualies than I usually would with the Switchback 14 and I was really happy to execute it. It’s going to be an exciting final." 

Guseli also impressed, delivering two strong and consistent runs – an 86.75 followed by an 86.25 – to comfortably qualify in sixth place. 

“I put down two runs and I did the first triple that I’ve done in a comp in a really long time, so that felt good and I’ll hopefully clean the last run up for finals,” the 20-year-old said. 

“I did the triple tonight, so it was good to get it out of the way… and then there’s maybe two more tricks I’d like to put into my run if all goes well. 

“If I can do them, it will leave me in a position I want to be, so I just hope that I can do that.” 

The standard for the men’s Halfpipe qualifications was exceptional, with the top riders laying down scores that could have podiumed in Beijing four years ago. Japan’s Yuto Totsuka (91.25), Ryusei Yamada (90.25) and Ruka Hirano (87.50), along with America’s Alessandro Barbieri (88.50), joined James and Guseli inside the top six. 

“That qualies was like a final,” Guseli said. “So the finals are just going to be insane, it’s going to be the biggest show ever.” 

James agreed, saying the standard of the early riders pushed him to elevate his own opener. 

“It was unbelievable riding from everyone – the Japanese of course, Valentino rode amazing, Cam [Campbell Meville Ives] from New Zealand. The whole field was pushing it, so I was standing there thinking, ‘well, if I want to go where I want to go – position wise – I need to turn up the dial a bit’ and I was able to pull off a good run,” the 31-year-old said. 

“From a competitive standpoint, halfpipe riding in the Olympics is the most competitive it’s ever been. I think the top six can all win, and I don’t think that’s been the case before, it’s usually been one or two people that have the chance to win, so I think this time around it’s going to be an amazing battle.” 

While he plans to pull out all the stops for the final, Guseli said James was the one to beat, but the “Japanese guys have got more in the tank as well.” 

“For the first time in quite a long time in halfpipe, it could almost be anyone’s game, but Scotty’s got some stuff that’s pretty insane and hard to beat,” he said. 

“I know if I do my best stuff, I could potentially be up there. 

“It’s going to be crazy and it’s hard to speculate – all you can do is watch and see what happens and enjoy the show.” 

While James remained tight lipped on if there were any tricks in his bag he’s yet to perform for an audience, he did promise he’s going to try to do something special. 

“On Friday, I'm going to try and pull off the best run of my life, and I think that's what it's gonna take to win.” 

Scotty James and Valentino Guseli will compete in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe Finals under lights on Friday night (from 5.30pm AEDT on Saturday 14 February). ​

IMAGE TOP - Scotty James
IMAGE BOTTOM - Valentino Guseli
COPYRIGHT CHRIS HOCKING

Article courtesy olympics.com.au

​Valentino Guseli wasn’t expecting to compete in Big Air at Milano Cortina 2026 two days ago.

But after receiving a last-minute call up when Canadian star Mark McMorris withdrew due to injury, the 20-year-old not only stepped into the Men’s Big Air event and qualified for the final on Saturday evening, he delivered a gutsy top-10 finish on the world’s biggest sporting stage with almost no Big Air preparation.  

“I was stoked to be out there, I had a lot of fun riding,” Guseli said. “I left it all out there… I couldn't have tried harder or, wanted it more. So yeah, no regrets. 

“[Mark McMorris] went out, and I came in, so essentially I had his spot and I wanted to do something special with his spot, out of respect for him.” 

Guseli opened the final with a Switch Backside 1800 Nosegrab, but was unable to ride out the landing cleanly, scoring 23.00. 

He went big on his second jump, successfully landing a Switch Backside 1980 Tail Grab for only the third time in his career. The last time he landed it was just two nights earlier to book his ticket into the Olympic final. His score of 86.75 was the fourth-highest scoring trick of the night. 

Entering the final round in eighth place, the Aussie went for a huge Backside 1980 Indy Grab, but unfortunately, he came in just a quarter rotation short missing the landing and catching a backside edge to finish the night with a total score of 103.25 in 10th place overall. 

Despite the landing, Guseli said he walked away proud of the risks he took. 

“I think the level was so high that everyone just had to go all in and throw the biggest stuff they could and I know that I definitely threw the best stuff that I could,” he said. 

“It was the third time I landed the Switchback 19 ever in my life... And it was the first time I ever tried the back 19 - which was the last trick that I crashed on, unfortunately.” 

Japan dominated the Big Air podium, with Kira Kimura taking gold (179.50) and Ryoma Kimata winning silver (171.50). China’s Yiming Su claimed bronze (168.50). 

Guseli will now turn his attention to his main event – the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe – with official training getting underway on Sunday before qualifies on Wednesday, alongside fellow Aussie Scotty James. 

“I think I'll definitely be more comfortable by the time the Halfpipe rolls around,” he said. 

“Hopefully we can both get up there and make Australia proud.”

IMAGE COPYRIGHT CHRIS HOCKING

With only three hours to prepare, Valentino Guseli has pulled off a trick he has only attempted one other time on snow, to qualify in 12th place for the Men’s Snowboard Big Air Final. 

Knowing he needed to pull out a huge trick with his third and final jump to secure a place in the final, Guseli stomped a massive Switch Backside 1980 Tailgrab to score 91.50. That took his total score to 163.00 - one point more than the 13th placed athlete. 

Article courtesy olympics.com.au

It was an exceptional start to Australia’s Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic campaign, which was not scheduled to start for another two days. 

After falling agonisingly short of automatically qualifying for the Big Air and Slopestyle competitions, Guseli was only expected to compete in the Halfpipe, scheduled for 13 February. 

However, following a training injury which forced Canadian Olympic medallist, Mark McMorris to withdraw from the competition, Guseli was the only Snowboard Halfpipe athlete with a top 30 Big Air World Cup finish and enough FIS points to gain a start in Big Air. 
Receiving the official news just three hours before the event commenced, the 20-year-old Aussie leapt at the opportunity to stand at the top of the Big Air jump and squeezed in his first ever practice jumps on the colossal ramp in the hour before the competition commenced. 

"I found out last night that there was a chance I was going to get in after unfortunately Mark had a bit of a spill and wasn’t able to compete tonight,” Guseli explained. 

“When I found out I was getting the spot, then I just wanted to take that spot and go as far as possible with it. 

“By the time I dropped in for my first run, I only had eight runs on this jump, so I’m pretty stoked with that.” 

Guseli opened his Olympic campaign with a Switch Backside 1620 Double Tailgrab, scoring 73.25 and putting him in 15th position after the first jump. 

Ever the showman, the 20-year-old fanned the cameras in a cloud of snow after sticking the landing before performing a handstand flip to excite the fans at Livigno Snow Park. 

His second jump, a Backside 1620 Drunk Driver scored 71.50 kept him in 15th position. 
With only the top 12 advancing to finals, Guseli knew he had to pull out all the stops if he wanted a chance to secure his spot. 

“I was planning to do an 1800 instead of a 1920. Me and my dad [Guseli’s coach] were talking about it and he was like ‘dude, you might have to go the 19[20] to get the score’ and I was like ‘dude, I don’t know if it’s worth it’? 
“What I thought was: I’m not going to go and try something like a Hail Mary that I could get destroyed on and miss out on Halfpipe... 

“And then I thought for little bit and then I thought: ‘it's the Olympics, man’. 

“Once I decided it was like, let's go! Then I ended up just finding flow state pretty easily when I dropped in and snapped it, grabbed, came around, saw the landing, stomped it. 

“Sometimes things just happen for you when a lot of work accumulates into a certain moment, and I guess it felt like a lot of hard work paid off in that moment.” 

Having only landed that trick on snow once before – over 18 months ago before his ACL injury - Guseli’s Switch Backside 1980 Tailgrab scored a massive 91.50 to secure his position in Saturday’s final. 

Guseli will return to the ramp in the Men’s Snowboard Big Air Final at 7.30pm local time on Saturday 7 February (5.30am AEDT Sunday 8 February). 

VIS snowboard halfpipe superstar Scotty James has delivered a career highlight performance under lights at the prestigious Laax Open in Switzerland, winning gold in the World Cup final and leading a memorable double‑podium result, with fellow Aussie and NSWIS rider Valentino Guseli claiming bronze.
 
In the best‑of‑two‑run night final, James opened with a score of 84.00 points on his opening run. He then produced one of the finest performances of his illustrious career, as the last rider of the night and needing a score better than 91 points to win. With a pure pressure performance, James soared to the top of the leaderboard with a spectacular second run scoring 98.75 points. The victory is the eleventh World Cup win of his career, and third consecutive Laax halfpipe title, and fifth triumph at the iconic venue.
 
James began his winning run with a switch frontside triple cork 1440 indy, then a frontside double cork 1260 stalefish, a backside double cork 1080 stalefish, a switch backside double cork 1440 mute, and ended with a backside double cork 1260 mute on the sixth and final hit. The final two trick combination had never been done in competition before.
 
Guseli secured his place on the podium with a strong opening‑run score of 80.25 points, earning the bronze medal, the twelfth World Cup podium of his career. It capped off a big week for Guseli, who balanced halfpipe preparations with a full training load and competition in the slopestyle discipline. Earlier in the day, he placed 17th in the slopestyle semi‑final, just missing the cut for the final.
 
The podium in Laax had a distinct ANZAC flavour, with New Zealand’s Campbell Melville Ives finishing between the two Australians in second place on 91.00 points.
 
“It’s honestly one of my favourite events on the calendar, huge shoutout to Laax, they are a visionary when it comes to freestyle, and they give us the platform to come here and ride every single year and do what we love, “said the 31-year-old James from Warrandyte in Victoria.
 
“To put it down in my last run is a bit of a dream come true and feeling good so I just have to keep it up.
 
“I have been working on some things, and this year is a tough year, its amazing competition, and I want to give a shout out to the ANZAC’s, two Aussies and a Kiwi on the podium which is unbelievable. The Japanese are also riding amazing, so you must put your best foot forward this year to try and get a chance or a sniff of the podium, and I am just grateful to be here, so I am pumped.
 
“We are probably going to be in for one of the most exciting, thrilling and competitive Olympics in history amongst the whole field in the halfpipe, it’s exciting for me and I hope it’s exciting for everyone, and I can’t wait to go to battle with everyone.”
 
Also competing for Australia in the women’s event in Laax were Emily Arthur, who finished 25th, Amelie Haskell in 26th, and Misaki Vaughan in 29th.
 
Next is the X-Games event in Aspen, USA, where James will be aiming to win an incredible fifth straight gold medal.

Men's podium in Laax (top) and Scotty James in qualifying
© David Tributsch & Chad Buchholz

NSWIS snowboard star Valentino Guseli came agonizingly close to a third consecutive World Cup podium in Aspen, USA, finishing fourth in the men’s halfpipe.
 
Guseli faced a packed schedule, competing in both halfpipe and slopestyle, and started strongly by winning the halfpipe qualification round with an impressive 92 points. In the best-of-two-run final, he delivered two solid performances, opening with 85.25 points and improving to 86.75 in his second run, securing fourth overall.
 
Victory went to Yuto Totsuka (Japan) with 90.50 points, followed by teammate Shuichiro on 90, and American Alessandro Barbieri rounding out the podium with 89.25.
 
Guseli now sits second in the World Cup standings with 210 points, trailing Totsuka by 50 points on 260, with three events remaining this season.
 
In the women’s event, teenager Amelie Haskell celebrated her 18th birthday in style, qualifying for her first World Cup halfpipe final and achieving a personal-best eighth place with a top score of 63 points.
 
The women’s podium featured Mitsuki Ono of Japan in first with 91 points, American Madeline Schaffrick second on 82.75, and Sena Tomita also of Japan in third with 80.75.
 
Also representing Australia but missing finals were Emily Arthur in 18th and Misaki Vaughan in 20th, who missed the finals.
 
The final Olympic qualification event for halfpipe will take place at the World Cup in Laax, Switzerland, on January 17.

IMAGE
Valentino Guseli showing his incredible amplitude in Aspen
© Chris Hocking

NSWIS snowboard World Championship medallist Valentino Guseli has claimed his first World Cup victory since February 2024, delivering a gold medal performance in Calgary, Canada. The victory capped a historic day for Australia’s winter sport youth movement, following 15-year-old Indra Brown’s breakthrough win in the women’s freeski halfpipe earlier in the day.

The 20-year-old from the NSW South Coast now boasts three World Cup wins, all on Canadian snow, two in Calgary’s halfpipe and one in big air at Edmonton.

Guseli carried his strong form from a podium finish at Copper Mountain, USA, into Calgary, qualifying first for the finals.

In the best-of-two-run night showdown, he opened with an unbeatable score of 87.75 points, securing the win before his second run and turning it into a celebratory “victory lap.”

His gold medal run featured a stylish backside alley-oop 360, cab double cork 1080, frontside 1260, backside 720 and switch backside 900, with all tricks completed with grabs. 

Swiss rider David Habluetzel finished second with 80 points, while Patrick Burgener of Brazil was third on 79.25.

“It was great, it was the most fun run I have had it this pipe all week, so happy to end my time in this pipe off like that,” said Guseli after completing his victory lap final run.

“I am stoked, Calgary has always treated me very nicely, and I was really happy to be back in Canada after a two-year hiatus. Feels good to be back on the top step and looking forward to pushing for more. “

“There are so many Aussies in Canada, so I really feel the Aussie love here, but also everyone in Canada is so nice, so thank you.”

In the women’s snowboard halfpipe, Australians Emily Arthur finished 14th, Misaki Vaughan 15th, and Amelie Haskell 18th.

With four World Cup events remaining, Guseli now sits first on the halfpipe standings like Brown, and both will wear the yellow leader’s bib at the next event in Aspen, USA, on January 9.

Australian snowboard star Valentino Guseli has made an impressive return to halfpipe competition, securing a bronze medal at Copper Mountain, USA, in his first event since sustaining a knee injury 12 months ago.
 
Guseli demonstrated strong form from the outset, placing second in qualification heat two with a score of 77.83 points, to advance to the final.
 
In the best-of-two-run final, Guseli delivered two impressive performances. His opening run scored 79.95, followed by an improved second run of 84.75, which secured the bronze medal and marked the tenth World Cup podium of his career.
 
Both runs featured a stylish backside alley-oop 360, cab double cork 1080, frontside 1260, backside double cork 1260 and frontside 1440, with all tricks completed with grabs.
 
The event was won by Ryusei of Japan with a top score of 94.50, while teammate Yuto Totsuka claimed silver with 90.50.

“It's really nice to be back up there, I definitely did what I wanted to do which was basically just put down some runs and stamp my authority back in the halfpipe,” said the 20-year-old from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.
 
“The biggest factor today was how sick I felt in the morning during training, I was happy I was able to get through that and then the main thing was just really focusing on my runs and putting them down and I was able to get that done.”
 
“This wasn’t the most technical run I've ever done, but I have a new addition to it, the backside alley-oop 360, which in my opinion is a pretty cool trick, it brings something fresh and exciting back into halfpipe.”
 
“It's my first halfpipe comp of the season, I'm going to have some time to train now and put some time into getting these bigger tricks, so by the time the Olympic Games come around I'm ready to take it.”
 
In the women’s snowboard halfpipe event, Australians Amelie Haskell finished 19th, Emily Arthur 27th, and Misaki Vaughan 28th.
 
Looking ahead, 15-year-old Indra Brown will compete tomorrow in the women’s freeski halfpipe event, fresh off becoming Australia’s youngest-ever World Cup medallist last week in China.
 
The next snowboard halfpipe World Cup will take place in the new year in Calgary, Canada, on January 2, followed by the freeski halfpipe on January 3.

The second Big Air World Cup in China took place over the weekend, this time as a city event in Beijing at the iconic 2022 Olympic venue. Once again, Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady was the top-performing Australian.
 
Coady advanced to the women’s top-eight final, qualifying in seventh place with a score of 150.25. NSWIS teammates Meila Stalker (17th, 123.25) and Ally Hickman (24th, 77.50) missed the cut.
 
In the three-jump final, where the best two scores count, Coady’s highlight came in run two, landing a backside double cork 1080 method grab for 72.25 points. Her final attempt, a frontside 900 grab, was unsuccessful, scoring 21.50, giving her a two-jump total of 93.75 and an eighth-place finish.
 
In the men’s event, two-time World Overall Park & Pipe Champion Valentino Guseli narrowly missed the final, finishing seventh in his heat with a two-jump score of 138.50, just short of the top-five required. Guseli ranked 13th overall, while Joshua Robertson-Hahn placed 24th (106.50) and Jesse Parkinson finished 40th (77.50).
 
In the freeski Big Air competition, Abi Harrigan scored 97.50 for 18th place, and Joey Elliss finished 40th (110.50) in the men’s event.
 
Next weekend World Cup events are scheduled in China and the USA.
 
In China, the World Cup halfpipe event at Secret Garden will feature four-time World Champion Scotty James making his season debut, alongside snowboarders Emily Arthur, Amelie Haskell, Misaki Vaughan, and Indra Brown, who will make a World Cup debut in freeski halfpipe.
 
In the USA, the third World Cup Big Air of the season takes place in Steamboat, Colorado, with Harrigan and Elliss in freeski, and Stalker, Hickman, Guseli, Robertson-Hahn, and Parkinson in snowboard.

Teen Snowboard star Valentino Guseli has revealed on social media that he has sadly injured his knee at the World Cup Big Air event in Beijing last week and is set for a lengthy period on the sidelines.

Guseli has since returned to Australia to have a corrective ACL surgery.

Click below to see Guseli's full post and video.

Australian teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli has recorded his first slopestyle podium of the season at the perfect time, with a bronze medal performance on the final day of the season dramatically snatching the overall park and pipe Crystal Globe in Silvaplana, Switzerland.

The overall park and pipe Crytal Globe includes results from halfpipe, big air and slopestyle and heading into the final day of competition for the season, Guseli needed to finish well ahead of Japanese rider Ryoma Kimata who had a significant lead in the standings, to defend the historic title he won last year as a 17-year-old.

In qualifying, Kimata had his worst performance of the season finishing in 50th, with Gueli advancing to the final in first place, which meant he would need to finish in fourth place or better to move into first place and take the Crystal Globe.
In the best of two fun final, Guseli was consistent on both runs, opening with a score of 77.31, and then improved in the second run, receiving a score of 83.77 points from the judges to give him third place and enough points to secure back-to-back overall Crystal Globes.

Ahead of Guseli on the podium was Canadian Liam Brearley in second on 88.10 points and Taiga Hasegawa of Japan with the best score of 88.52 points.

Guseli now has nine career World Cup medals competing in the three park and pipe disciplines of halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air, and three Crystal Globes.

“I am super stoked with the way today went, in my second run I landed one of the best runs of my life” said the 18-year-old from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“Got on the podium and got the globe, which was my main goal, and from my side I don’t think today could have gone much better, I am super proud of my performance.”

“To win the overall, which means to be the most consistent out of all three freestyle disciplines, I am honoured to have won it for the second year in a row.”

“This season has been an interesting one, there has been lots of ups and downs, but I definitely feel like I have learned a lot this year, and I am super happy with where my snowboarding is right now.”

Also competing for Australia in Silvaplana was Joshua Robertson-Hahn in 36th and Meila Stalker 18th in the women's slopestyle event.

In the freeski slopestyle, Abi Harrigan finished in 11th matching her World Cup personal best, and in the men's competition Kai Martin was 34th and Cameron Waddell 51st.

Silvaplana and nearby St Moritz will host the 2025 Snowboard and Freestyle World Championships in March next year, as the major lead up event to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games in February 2026. less than two years away.

Over the weekend in Tignes, France, a World Cup slopestyle (snowboard and freeski) and big air event (freeski) took place, with NSWIS rider Meila Stalker the best performed Australian finishing in ninth place. Stalker qualified for finals in tenth place and in the best of two-run final had her highest score in run one with 50.25, giving her a ninth place ranking.

2023 World Cup Overall Park & Pipe champion Valentino Guseli was drawn in heat number two in the qualification round and finished in ninth place, just missing out on the top-eight needed to advance to the final. In the final rankings Guseli was 24th once scored were used to rank riders from both heats. Guseli is currently ranked third in the overall park & pipe standings, after finishing the season ranked second in halfpipe, 12th in big air and with one event remaining is 27thin slopestyle.

In the freeski events, Kai Martin had a personal best World Cup performance, finishing 23rd in the slopestyle and in the big air finished in 43rd. Cam Waddell finished 55th in slopestyle and 45th in big air. 2022 Olympian Abi Harrigan was the sole competitor for Australia in the women’s freeski slopestyle and big air, placing 12th in both events.

Next weekend the skiers and boarders will compete in Silvaplana, Switzerland, for the final event of the season on March 23 for snowboard and March 24 for freeski.

In a historic night for Australian snowboarding, Scotty James and Valentino Guseli have claimed gold and silver in the halfpipe event in Laax, Switzerland, the first time Australia has taken out the top two spots in the sport.

In a spectacular final under lights, both James and Guseli put down two great runs with both riders displaying huge amplitude, style and super difficult tricks.

James best score in the two run-final came in his first run, where the VIS rider scored 94 points to record the ninth World Cup win of his impressive career and third victory in the Laax halfpipe.

NSWIS rider Guseli scored 90 points on his first run, and then in the final round stepped it up performing a trick that had never been landed in competition, landing a frontside 1620 tailgrab to score 92.25 points and finish in second place.

Rounding out the podium was Ruka Hirano of Japan who registered 90 points on his final run.

“I feel pretty damm good, it’s tough to win this event so tonight I had to bring my best and it feels amazing to stand on top of the podium” said James the two-time Olympic medallist and triple World Champion from Warrandyte in Victoria.

“Laax feels like a home away from home, it’s always such an incredible the event, the fans and the crowd and the atmosphere is always really special here and unmatched.”

James on his impressive switch McTwist pullback to regular jump.

“It’s something I brought in this year, and I really try to push creativity and technicality in snowboarding, and of course you can’t really do these things without a lot of amplitude and execution, so tonight it was thankfully a combination of all those things which is really nice.”

For Guseli, the podium performance is the seventh World Cup medal of his career, and first in the Laax halfpipe. “To get to the bottom of two runs and having stomped them both, and I think they are some of the best runs I have done, so I am really happy and stoked to have some momentum rolling into the season,” said the 18-year-old teen snowboard prodigy from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“He (Scotty James) is amazing, coming from Australia we actually don’t have a 22-foot halfpipe anywhere in the whole country, and it’s pretty crazy being second to one of the guys that is the best to ever do it and we are both from the same country and can hold our flag up really high which is a beautiful thing.”

In the women's event two-time Olympian Emily Arthur finished in 20th place.

James and Guseli have now travelled to Aspen, USA, for the X-Games on January 26.

2022 Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady has started the new year in strong form, just missing the podium in fourth place in the slopestyle event in Laax, Switzerland.

Coady was in excellent form during qualifying for the star studded eight-woman final, landing in second place.
In the best of two run final under sunny skies, the NSWIS rider unfortunately fell on her first run, but put down a solid second run scoring 66.13 points to move into third place with one rider remaining.

But the last rider of the day Annika Morgan of Germany handled the pressure to score 80.75 points and finish in second place, which bumped Coady down into fourth.

Taking the win was American Julia Marino on a best score of 83.08 points, with two-time Olympic gold medallist Anna Gasser of Austria in third with 75.93.

Also in action for Australia was fellow NSWIS rider Meila Stalker who finished in 14th place and Valentino Guseli who had the two events in two different disciplines in 20th place.

In the men’s freeski slopestyle, Snow Australia skiers Cameron Waddell finished in 45th place and Kai Martin in 55th.
Coady is now in Aspen, USA, for the X-Games which will take place this weekend.

Valentino Guseli also took part in the big air event in Copper Mountain, which was the fourth and final big air World Cup of the season.

Guseli put down two impressive jumps with 1800 degree spins, scoring 87 points for jump one and 90.50 for jump two, but he missed by one place on qualifying for the 10-man final, finishing in 11th.

Also in action for Australia was Joshua Robertson-Hahn who was 18th in qualifying in his heat, giving him a ranking of 33rd place.

On the final big air standings, Guseli finished the season ranked 12th, with Robertson-Hahn in 40th. Laax, Switzerland, will host the next slopestyle and halfpipe World Cup events scheduled for January 17-20.

NSWIS snowboard super teen Valentino Guseli has narrowly missed out on the podium at the World Cup snowboard halfpipe event in Copper Mountain, USA, finishing in fourth place.

Competing in his first halfpipe event of the season, the 18-year-old qualified for the final in equal first place, after scoring 95.25 points in heat two.

VIS three-time World Champion Scotty James also qualified for the final in first place, scoring a massive 95.50 in heat one.

In the best of three run final, many riders struggled to put runs down without errors, but in the third round several competitors rose to the occasion and put down clean runs.

Guseli was unlucky not to land on the podium after an impressive final run, receiving a score of 77.25 points from the judges missing the podium by just 0.75 points.

In first place was 2022 Olympic Champion Ayumu Hirano of Japan who scored 91 points, with Korean Chaeun Lee in second with 80 points and rounding out the podium in third was Yuto Totsuka on 78 points.

Scotty James had a rare bad final, unable to put a clean run down, finishing in ninth place.

In the women’s event, two-time NSWIS Olympian Emily Arthur just missed the eight-woman final finishing in ninth place.

Scotty James has started the season in the best possible way, taking home a gold medal in the opening snowboard halfpipe World Cup in Secret, Garden, China, his eighth career World Cup win, and the third most by any male snowboard halfpipe rider.
 
Competing on the 2022 Olympic course where he claimed the silver medal, James led all qualifiers, and came out firing in the first round of finals scoring 91.25 points from the judges to put him in first place.
 
All riders had three runs in finals, and none came close to James first run score, ensuring the 29-year-old from Warrandyte could perform a “victory lap” on his final run, knowing his score could not be bettered as the final competitor.
 
Behind James on the podium was Japanese rider Ruka Hirano with a best score of 88.25 points, and rounding out the podium in third was Korean Chaeun Lee with 87.50.
 
“Feels like a bit of redemption for sure from the Olympic Games, but I have always had a good time in Secret Garden and the halfpipe is incredible and honestly today was as heavy as a show as the Olympics” said the two-time Olympic medallist and triple World Champion.
 
“Everyone really brought it and I had to bring my best, really awesome to share the podium with these boys and it’s been a fine day for sure.”
 
“I came unstuck last season at the World Championships which was frustrating, and funnily enough the frontside 1400 that I landed today was a bit of a testament for me, as that was what I crashed at my last event, so I wanted to come out and land it today and put that run together, it felt really nice and super happy overall.”
 
James will next be in action competing at the World Cup event in Copper Mountain, USA, next weekend on December 16.
 
Australia’s teen snowboard sensation Valentino Guseli did not compete in the halfpipe in China as the event clashed with the big air snowboard city event this weekend in Edmonton, Canada, where Guseli will be aiming to repeat his victory from last year at the Canadian city venue.

It has been an incredible start to the 2023-2024 northern hemisphere winter for Australia with a gold medal overnight to mogul skier Jakara Anthony in Ruka, Finland, and a silver medal in the big air in Beijing, China, for snowboarder Tess Coady.

It was the opening event of the season for the 2022 Olympic medallists, with Anthony winning for the second consecutive time to start the season in Ruka and for Coady the second place finish was the best big air result of her World Cup career.

In the first FIS World Cup event in China since the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Tess Coady had the best big air finish of her career, taking home a silver medal in the city night event.

Competing in the three run final with your best two jumps counting, Coady scored 84.75 points in her opening back double 1080 melon jump, and then stepped it up in the final round with 86.25 points for her front 1080 double tail grab jump, giving her a two jump combined score of 171 points.

Recording victory was two-time Olympic big air champion Anna Gaser of Austria with 174 points, with Japanese rider Miyabi Onitsuka rounding out the podium scoring 170.50.

“Super happy with how this competition went in China, I love the jump, it’s one on the best city big airs in the world” said the 23-year-old Coady from Melbourne.

“It’s been a really fun trip, it’s really cool to check out Beijing as last time we were here we didn’t get to see the city.”

Also in action for Australia was Valentino Guseli in 16th and Joshua Robertson-Hahn in 22nd.

Coady will now return home to Australia, with Guseli and Robertson-Hahn heading to Edmonton for the next big air World Cup event, where Guseli will be aiming to make it back-to-back victories at the Canadian city venue.

The FIS Snowboard & Freeski Park & Pipe World Cup tour commenced last month in Chur, Switzerland, with a big air event taking place.

China will host a big air World Cup in Beijing this weekend, and then a halfpipe World Cup event at the 2022 Olympic venue the following weekend in Secret Garden.

Teen sensation and reigning big air World Cup champion Valentino Guseli will no doubt feature strongly in China, after qualifying for finals in second place at the opening World Cup in Chur, finishing seventh in the final.

"It's very cool to be back, I had a great time here my first time in this country for the Olympics, and now here for another great time" said Guseli.

"Training has gone great so far, the jump is super nice and I'm ready to go ham. My goals for the rest of the season are nothing short of winning everything. Either way, I am definitely going to give it my all."

Tess Coady will be competing in her first big air event since claiming bronze at the 2023 World Championships.

"Super great to be back in China. Definitely a different vibe to last time we were here, It’s really nice to be back with the snowboard crew all just staying in the same hotel, vibing, shredding, so it’s good," said Coady.

"Training has been going well so far. We just had our first practice day and the jump is riding really well, so we will see how the next few days unfold, the team is looking solid."

"I’m looking forward to spending some time on this jump, and in the air and getting back into the contest season."
Also in the men’s event will be Snow Australia rider Joshua Robertson-Hahn, competing in the second World Cup of his career.

Freeski will also be in action in Beijing, with Kai Martin the sole Australian representative in big air.

Snowboard Halfpipe
The following weekend in China will see the first FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup of the year take place in Secret Garden, with two-time Olympic Medallist and triple World Champion Scotty James the lone Australian in action. The Secret Garden resort was the location for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games where James took home the silver medal in an epic Olympic halfpipe final.

Halfpipe qualifying in Secret Garden is on December 6th with the final two days later on December 8th.

Valentino Guseli will not be able to compete in the halfpipe event in China, as another big air World Cup is scheduled at the same time in Edmonton, Canada, where Guseli claimed the first world Cup victory of his career 12 months ago.

The World Cup snowboard season kicked off in Chur, Switzerland, on the 21st of October, with a big air event to open the season.

Defending his Overall Park & Pipe World Cup and Big Air titles from last season, teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli, made a strong start to the event, qualifying for the final in second place after scoring 87 points on his first jump.

In the 10-man final, where two of your three jumps counts towards your final score, Guseli’s best jump was his second, where the judges gave him 82.75 points, but he unfortunately had trouble with his landing on his first and third jumps, with his next counting score being a 26.50 from his final jump, giving him a final two jump score of 109.25, putting him in seventh place.

Also in action for Australia was Joshua Robertson-Hahn who finished in 24th in his World Cup debut.

Japanese riders made it a clean sweep of the men's podium, with Ogiwara Hiroto claiming victory with a two jump score of 171.50, with Kira Kimura in second on 168 and Takeru Otsuka in third.

In the freeski big air, Kai Martin also made his Word Cup debut, placing 40th overall. The next snowboard big air World Cup will be in Beijing, China, on December 2nd, with Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady to make her season debut, with Guseli and Robertson-Hahn also competing.

The first freeski slopestyle event of the season for Martin will take place on November 24-25 in Stubai, Austria, before the skiers also head to China to join the snowboarders in Beijing.

At the park and pipe final event in Silvaplana, Switzerland, snowboard teen-sensation Valentino Guseli received the Crystal Globe as the overall World Cup winner, his second globe of the season.
 
In a historic season, Guseli became the first snowboarder to ever record podium performances in the same season in three separate disciplines – big air, slopestyle, and halfpipe.
 
With each discipline becoming so specialised, Guseli’s achievement is truly extraordinary at just 17-years-of-age, as no other rider is capable of performing in more than one event at such a high level.
 
In total, Guseli had six podium performances over the season, with big air victory in Edmonton, slopestyle silver in Mammoth Mountain, and in the halfpipe, World Championship silver in Bakuriani, World Cup silver in Mammoth Mountain and Calgary, and bronze at the X-Games in Aspen.
 
On the final standings Guseli also won the Crystal Globe in big air, was second in halfpipe and third in slopestyle.

IMAGE: Overall World Cup champion Guseli with slopestyle winner Dusty Henricksen of the USA

Tess Coady has wrapped up her competition season in style, with a silver medal performance in the slopestyle event at the World Cup final at Silvaplana, in the iconic St Moritz-Engadin region of Switzerland.

The podium performance is the third of the season for the 22-year-old NSWIS snowboarder from Melbourne, also claiming a bronze medal earlier this month in the big air discipline at the World Championships in Bakuriani, and a silver medal in slopestyle during January at the X-Games in Aspen.

In the best of two run final, Coady made an impressive start with the highest score of all competitors in the first run, her high-quality rail section and jumps giving her a score of 85 points.

After the rail section at the top, her jumps included a frontside 900 tail grab, switch backside 900 Weddle, and finally a backside double cork 1080 Weddle to cap things off.

“Stoked to finish the competition season on the blocks with Julia and Anna. Time for some spring shredding,” said the 2022 Olympic bronze medallist.

American Julia Marino just edged Coady in the final run, scoring 87.25 points to record victory, with Austrian Anna Gasser rounding out the podium in third with 82.25

Also in the final was NSWIS rider Meila Stalker, who had a personal best World Cup finish in eighth place, her best run coming in the first run with a 57.25.

Later in the day, the men’s snowboard qualifying took place. Big Air World Cup Champion Valentino Guseli finished well down in 20th place and fellow teenager Jesse Parkinson was 24th. Both riders missed out on advancing to the final.

Teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli has claimed the silver medal in an incredible halfpipe performance at Bakuriani, Georgia, taking home his first ever World Championship medal.
 
After battling injury all week which forced Guseli to miss the slopestyle and big air events, the 17-year-old pushed on to win Australia’s fifth medal at the World Championships.
 
In the best of three run final, Guseli fell on his first run, but improved to score 83.25 points on his second run, then stepped it up in the final run adding a cab-triple-1440 to score a huge 93 points, narrowly missing victory by just half a point to fellow teenager Chaeun Lee of Korea. Rounding out the podium in third place was Swiss rider Jan Scherrer with 89.25.
 
Three-time World Champion and two-time Olympic medallist Scotty James just missed recording his fifth career World Championship medal , finishing in fifth place with his best score of 86.50 points coming in his second run.
 
“I am pretty stoked, considering that a week ago I was crawling around my apartment not sure if I was going to be able to do anything here, I am really happy,” said Guseli who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.
 
“The cab-triple-1440 was a trick I learnt in November, and I have been struggling a little bit with it all year, I perfected it a week before coming here training in Laax, Switzerland, landing five in a row and felt really comfortable with them.”
 
“All of my success this year has been a process, I obviously wanted that the first year I was at World Cup riding at this level three years ago, but it’s been a process figuring everything out and happy to be finally trying to match it with the best in the world.”
 
“I grew up watching Scotty James, and now to be almost at a level where kids look up to me the same is pretty amazing.”
 
“If you want it enough you will make it happen, it’s all heart, put your heart into it and you will get it.”
 
The final event at the World Championships is scheduled to take place on Sunday, with Tess Coady representing Australia in the big air final.