Scotty James is chasing his first Olympic gold. His teammate wants to stop him

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Livigno: It’s a few days out from the men’s halfpipe, the most-watched snowboarding event at the Winter Olympics, and training has just wrapped up. Riders of both genders, who were just offered a close-up look at the Livigno facility, gather in a semicircle around the person responsible for cutting the course to offer some feedback.

This is what’s called a course review, and every athlete has the chance to offer their thoughts on what, if anything, needs to change.

In theory, it’s democratic. In reality, all eyes drift towards Scotty James.

“We were all like, ‘Scotty, what do you think?’” laughs Aussie snowboarder Emily Arthur. “In the whole community, he has a very big presence.”

James’ suggestion, according to those in the semicircle, was that the right and left walls needed better vertical balance. Everyone else nodded.

“Well, it’s not always just Scotty,” says Valentino Guseli, his friend and rival. “He was the first person that said it, but that’s what everyone was thinking.”

Riders in Livigno inspect the Olympic halfpipe course.

That’s what a decade at the top gets you.

There’s no denying the level of magnetism possessed by James, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, and the warm favourite to win gold here, the one thing missing from his resume.

Just when it felt like the next generation was closing in on him, James won his eighth X Games title by unveiling an unprecedented trick combination: linking a switch backside 1440 into a backside 1440, a late-career upgrade that reminded everyone he isn’t here to hand anything over.

Guseli might be the only Australian who doesn’t want to see the 31-year-old finally get on top of the podium, but certainly not out of bitterness or spite.

Australian snowboarders Scotty James and Valentino Guseli are set to go head-to-head in the men’s halfpipe.

“He’s the man, for sure,” Guseli said.

And for Guseli to usurp him and be the new man, he’s got to beat James. If James is the king of Australian snowboarding, then Guseli is the 20-year-old upstart charged with bringing the monarch’s reign to an end.

“He’s a great person,” Guseli said.

“Obviously, in my position, and in everyone else’s position, you want to just win. That’s what we’re here for: we’re here to go for gold. As a snowboarder, I respect him very much, and I think it’s more about us going and kicking everyone else’s asses. That’s a cool thing.”

Scotty James and Valentino Guseli claimed gold and silver in the men’s halfpipe at the X Games in Laax, Switzerland in 2024. Can they do it again in Livigno?

The snowboarding world is pretty collegiate compared to most other sports, and especially within the Australian team. James and Guseli both say they bring the best out of each other, and they both seem to mean it. It’s a mutual adoration, tempered only by natural “brotherly” competitiveness, as Arthur described it.

“There’s obviously some fire there, but it’s love at the end of the day,” she said.

And it’s important that no negativity creeps in, because they both have a battle on their hands beyond themselves, to fend off the threats from elsewhere - particularly from a legion of sensational Japanese riders, led by Ayumu Hirano, the reigning Olympic halfpipe champion from Beijing 2022, when qualifying begins on Thursday (5.30am AEDT).

“I think Valentino is an incredibly talented snowboarder. I always say most importantly, he’s actually just a really good kid. I have nothing bad to say about him,” James said.

“Australians, naturally, we want to put each other down a peg. I think that’s in our nature. When someone does well, we want to just cut down a little bit. For me, through my journey, I’m not doing that.

“Every time he does well, I send him a text and say, ‘Mate, well done.’ As a country, we’re small when it comes to winter sport, [but] we move mountains, and he’s someone that can stand on the podium in any of the disciplines.

“I would always cheer him on to do that. Obviously, cutting through the BS - he and I know that we have to try and beat each other, and we’ve got to beat the whole army of the Japanese, and Americans, and everyone else as well.

“I look forward to probably having a good battle with him here in the halfpipe. It’s going to be fun.”

Aussie women fall short in big air final

Tess Coady didn’t land any of her practice runs ahead of the women’s big air final.

It meant the 25-year-old Australian had to pivot and take it down a notch as she stepped onto the slope as the first competitor on Monday night (local time).

Tess Coady in the women’s big air final on Monday night.

But despite landing all three of her runs, Coady missed the podium with a 7th place finish along with countrywoman Mela Stalker who finished 10th.

Japan’s Kokomo Murase won gold, New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott silver and South Korea’s Seungeun Yu bronze.

“I was going to start switch back, and then go back side, but I felt more confident with the back side and then just start there and see how it went,” Coady said.

In simple terms: she wanted to start with a hard trick, lost her confidence and decided instead to play it safe.

Mela Stalker watches on as the judges present her scores.

For Stalker, who was competing in her first Olympic final, she exceeded her expectations, and now has an Olympic hit-out under her belt ahead of her preferred event – the women’s slopestyle.

Not only is it Stalker’s favourite, the course is also well suited to her, with big rails that some would find intimidating, but Stalker finds exciting.

“The rails are crazy, so I’m really excited to have a play with those [in practice] and see where it goes to,” she said.

“We have some events that have pretty high rails, but not on the average that it is here, so I’m pretty excited to see how they all play out.”

It’s not a problem for Stalker. She likes rails. And the same goes for Coady, who won a bronze in the women’s slopestyle at the 2022 Olympics.

“I love rails. Rails are pretty fun. There’s a really fun little rail park just across [the street] over there that I’ll probably go ride for a little bit before the practice starts.”

The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the Nine Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.

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