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
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
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