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 Melia 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.

Teenage snowboard sensation Valentino Guseli has claimed back-to-back World Cup halfpipe silver medals, after finishing second in Calgary, Canada, and also made finals in the slopestyle event with a sixth place performance.

The halfpipe competition in Calgary was the final World Cup tour event of the season, with the podium performance moving Guseli into second place in the end of season rankings.

The NSWIS rider has further increased his lead the top of the World Cup snowboard standings, incorporating results from halfpipe, slopestyle and big air events in the race for the overall park & pipe “crystal globe” title.

\In the best of three run finals format, Guseli had his highest score in his final run, scoring 82 points, to give the 17-year-old the sixth World Cup podium of his career.

Finishing ahead of Guseli in first place was Japanese rider Ruka Hirano with 88.50 points, with his fellow countryman Shuichiro Shigeno in third with 81.75.

Also in action for Australia making her World Cup debut was Sascha Elvy in ninth place, just missing out on the eight woman final.

Two days later Guseli was back in action competing in the slopestyle discipline.

Drawn in heat two, Guseli qualified for finals in second place giving him a direct path to the final avoiding the semi-final stage.

In the best of three run final, Guseli had his highest score in run two, with 70.70 points, which put him in sixth place.

The teenager is now ranked an incredible first by an unassailable margin of 126 points in the overall snowboard park & pipe standings, and has already finished the season ranked second in halfpipe, first in big air and is currently second in slopestyle with only one event remaining in Silvaplana, Switzerland, on March 26.

Up next is the FIS Snowboard World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, which will run from February 19 to March 5, with Guseli's first event the snowboard slopestyle qualifications on February 24.

Teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli has created history to become only the fourth snowboarder to podium in all three park and pipe disciplines of big air, slopestyle and halfpipe, and the first rider to ever achieve the feat in the one season after a double podium performance in Mammoth Mountain, USA.
 
With each discipline becoming so specialised, Guseli’s achievement is truly extraordinary at just 17-yers-of-age, as no other rider is capable of performing in more than one event at such a high level.
 
Competing in the best of three run halfpipe final, Guseli’s put down his highest scoring run first up with 85.25 points.
 
Guseli’s run began with the massive switch method that has been his signature this season, before going switch frontside 1080 indy, then a frontside 1260 tail grab, a backside 900 weddle, and finally a near-perfect frontside 1440 tail grab.
 
Japanese rider Ruka Hirano finished in first place with a score of 91.50 points, with American Chase Blackwell taking the final spot on the podium in third with 84 points.
 
Guseli was then scheduled to quickly back up his halfpipe performance by competing in the slopestyle final straight after, but unfortunately increasing high winds forced the event to be cancelled due to rider safety.
 
This meant that results from the qualification round ran three days earlier would stand as the final results, which had Guseli in second place with a score of 81.50 in his first run, with American Dusty Henricksen taking the win with a score of 88.68 and his teammate Chris Corning in third with 81.33.
 
“I’m just super hyped to have landed my tricks this week and got some pretty good results,” Guseli said before slopestyle awards, downplaying his history-making week, “It’s a little bit unfortunate we didn’t get to have at it today in slopestyle, but I’m happy pipe ran and I’m happy with my riding.”
 
Pushed to consider all the great riders who had come before him and not accomplished what he’s done this season, Guseli dove into it a little further.
 
“Wow. I guess I’m not really feeling it too much yet, but I’m honoured. I’m so hyped. I just want to keep pushing - for podiums, wins, records…I guess (laughing). But really I just want to keep loving my life and snowboarding and hanging out with awesome people and being in awesome situations like this one.”
 
Guseli’s other World Cup podium performance this season came in December with a big air gold medal in Edmonton, Canada, and he also won his first ever X-Games medal with a bronze in Aspen, USA, last week. 
 
The snowboard athletes will now head to Calgary, Canada, for the next round of World Cup competition, which will include a halfpipe event on February 10 and slopestyle on February 12.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Scotty James has made an incredible start to the season, performing one of the finest runs in halfpipe history to score an amazing 99.00 points from the judges to win gold at the World Cup event in Copper Mountain, USA.

The two-time Olympic medallist three-time World Champion had the two highest scoring runs of the day, posting a 97 point first run, and went even better in run two with a massive score of 99 from the judges. With the win guaranteed, James performed a victory lap for his third and final run, high fiving the crowd on his way down the halfpipe to the finish line.

James’ run included a switch McTwist to start, followed by a cab double cork 1440, frontside 1080, cab 900 and switch backside double cork 1260 to finish, giving James the seventh World Cup victory of his career.

“Definitely the highest score I have ever gotten in my life, and I am not going to lie, it might be one of the most satisfying runs I have ever done” said the VIS athlete.

“We worked pretty hard on the switch McTwist and I have to say I felt like I got some soul back. The progression is so rapid these days, and I am really happy to be a part of that, but I also thought that I wanted to make some new additions with some creativity, and as we say as snowboarders get the soul.”

Behind James on the podium was Swiss rider Jan Scherrer with a best run of 96.25 points and Kaishu Hirano of Japan in third with a score of 88.25.

Australian teen sensation Valentino Guseli who won his first ever World Cup event last week in big air, made a strong start in his first halfpipe event of the season qualifying for finals in second place, but had to settle for seventh in the final with his best score of 82.50 coming in his first run.

GUSELI JUST MISSES BIG AIR FINAL
Guseli had a busy week in Copper Mountain, with the NSWIS rider also taking part in the big air event.

Drawn in heat one with the top-five riders advancing to finals, Guesli just fell short placing sixth, and an overall ranking of 11th.

A big air event is scheduled to take place on January 14 in Kreischberg, Austria, which will see Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady making her season debut with Guseli also likely to compete.

The following week the popular Laax Open takes place on January 18-21, with a World Cup slopestyle and halfpipe event in the Swiss resort.

Teen snowboard prodigy Valentino Guseli has created history, becoming the first Australian to win a World Cup big air event in Edmonton, Canada. At 17 years of age, the victory also makes him the youngest ever male to win World Cup gold for Australia in any discipline.


Guseli is now amazingly the only three-discipline star at open age level, having won medals in the big air and slopestyle disciplines and placing sixth in the halfpipe at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.


Competing in the city event at Commonwealth Stadium in downtown Edmonton, The NSWIS rider placed fourth in qualifying to advance to the semi-final round and secure a place in the final with a best of three two jump combined score of 148.50 points.


In the final, Guseli had trouble landing his first jump, a backside triple cork, but recovered in his second run to land an outrageously stylish, clean frontside double cork 1440 that earned him 85.50 points and a shot at the podium if he could produce another high scoring third final jump.


For his final jump, Guseli had another attempt at his backside triple cork 1620, this time stomping the landing to earn a score of 87 points and a combined score of 172.50.


His score was enough to narrowly edge out Chris Corning from the USA by half a point while Canadian Nicolas Laframboise took third with 168 points.


“Oh my goodness, I am so hyped right now” said Guseli who hails from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.


“I woke up this morning and was just really hoping that I could put my tricks down today, and now I am just so relieved and happy.”


“It’s been a long and very bumpy road the last three years trying to work my way to some podiums and I have finally got a win, and I am so hyped, I am hoping to just keep it rolling to the next comps.”


“Thank you to everyone that’s helped me up to this point.”


Also in action for Australia was NSWIS rider Jessie Parkinson in 49th place in his World Cup big air debut.


Guseli will now head to Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, USA, for another big air event and the opening halfpipe World Cup competition of the season.

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.

The wizard from Warrandyte Scotty James has won a well-deserved silver medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, alongside Olympic debutant Valentino Guseli finishing 6th.

In arguably the most anticipated event of the Games, Australia's dominance in the halfpipe was on display with the best snowboard talent from around the globe, including from five-time Olympian Shaun White from the USA.

A special anticipation and excitement was in the air early at the Genting Snow Park halfpipe, in the athlete Villages and all the way back in Australia – particularly in Scotty's hometown of Warrandyte and Valentino's home Dalmeny, or ‘Valmeny'.

Clear blue skies, no wind and a brisk –12C made for perfect competition conditions and a picturesque setting for what would be one of the biggest and most exciting halfpipe finals in Olympic history.

Scotty was thrilled to win a silver medal for Australia with a score of 92.50, with Japan's Ayumu Hirano only better with a 96.00 to take the gold.

"I feel amazing. If you had of said to me a long time ago that I would be a two-time Olympic medallist I would have said that you were dreaming." Scotty said.

"I'm honestly just really proud. It's a proud moment and obviously so much work goes into this. Ayumu (Hirano) is an amazing competitor to me and we have some really good rivals, I knew I had to deliver my best and I gave it my best shot in the end there and unfortunately came unstuck.

"I was really happy and proud with my second run. It's the most technical run I've ever done in my life and that was my vision today. I was super happy that it put me on the podium."

Rocking his trademark red gloves and wide grin, Scotty James was the second last athlete to take his first run after qualifying second for the finals.

It was a nail-biting battle for podium places among the top four competitors. Both Scotty James and Ayumu Hirano fell on their first runs to only score 16.50 and 33.75 respectively.

While challengers Jan Scherrer (70.59) from Switzerland and the greatest of all-time Shaun White earned a 72.00.

In the last competition of his illustrious career, the pressure was on Shaun White to produce a huge performance in his second run, which he turned into an 85.00 - his best run of the day to place 4th.

Scotty James' best run also came on his second attempt, with the wizard of Warrandyte taking the competition up a notch and smashing a stunning run and earning a 92.50 from the judges. It was a routine that could only be described as epic, starting with a switchback double cork 1260, followed by a front-nine tail grab, a backside 12 and finishing with a frontside 1440 tail grab that had spectators on their feet.

When asked about his medal-winning run Scotty James was still comprehending what he'd done.

"That combination has never been done before so I was really happy and thrilled to put that down.

"It's always funny doing interviews so quickly after because you don't get much time to process. So I think I'm just proud of what we did, proud of my team, proud of being out here representing Australia and that's all we can do."

On the very last run of the day, Hirano took out the gold medal.

The silver medal was well deserved for Scotty after a challenging few years for his camp, having to relocate to Switzerland to train as the pandemic made it difficult to attend competitions.

For Valentino Guseli, known for his big air and surprising skill, had three clean runs in the final. He earned a strong score of 75.75 in his first run to immediately jump into second place.

His consistency and strong performances resulted in a score of 79.75 from each of his second and third runs.

Valentino loved being on the Olympic stage in such a big occasion and sees himself having a long future in the sport.

"It was awesome to ride with all the homies. I think today was one of the biggest showings of competitive snowboarding ever. So it was awesome to be apart of it and super happy to have landed my runs," Valentino said.

"I had a really bad practice this morning, so I was just super happy to put my runs down. After I got through my first run [in the final] I started gaining a little bit of momentum and I guess it just led into the third run.

He was just as impressed as anyone about the performance Scotty James delivered.

"Scotty absolutely killed it. I'm super happy for him, he bettered his result and I'm sure he's going to continue to kill it around the world in all the other comps. He's the man."

With the pressure now off and Scotty looking forward to a medal ceremony in Beijing, he's already been thinking about what the future holds for him. Much to the delight of Australia, this won't be the last time we see the snowboarding sensation.

"Well I've got the bronze [from PyeongChang 2018], I've got the silver now... so there is only one left to get," Scotty said.

"So that's the plan."

olympics.com.au
Shannon Knaus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

olympics.com.au
Damian Kelly

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.

Aussie snowboard teenage sensation Valentino Guseli has had a confidence boosting sixth place performance at the Dew Tour event in Copper Mountain, USA.
 
Guseli qualified for finals in ninth place, joining the best in the sport in the 10-man final featuring Shaun White and the dominant Japanese riders.
 
In an incredible final which featured the first ever triple cork in halfpipe competition by Japanese rider Ayumu Hirano, Guseli put his best run down in the first round, scoring 83 points. He was unable to improve his score in the final two rounds, placing him in sixth, one spot ahead of double Olympic gold medallist Shaun White.
 
Guseli also had the biggest air and amplitude in the event, going the highest on the Space Force height metre.
 
“Had a very fun day riding” said the 16-year-old from Dalmeny in NSW.
 
“Felt so good to put some runs down. The energy and hype from the crowd was definitely something else, so cool to feed off that and try and put on a show for the people. Thanks to everyone who watched!”
 
Taking the win was Yuto Totsuka from Japan with 95.50 points, second went to American Taylor Gold with a score of 92, and third place was another Japanese rider, Ruka Hirano with 89 points.

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

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

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