Feb 14th, 2018

Feb 14th, 2018

Australian Scotty James has finished with the bronze medal in the snowboard halfpipe after a thrilling final which came down to the final run.

James went into the final a genuine gold medal chance but faced competition from American veteran Shaun White and Japan's Ayumu Hirano.

White claimed the gold medal with the final run of the event with a score of 97.75 to become the first snowboarder to claim three gold medals at the Olympics.

Hirano was in first position after a killer second run saw him leapfrog both White and James with a score of 95.25.

James secured the bronze medal after scoring 92.00 on his first run, but unfortunately was unable to improve on it after that.

He scored 81.75 with his second run after a slight stumble after a trick, and pushed himself on the third run before crashing out of contention to finish with a score of 41.25.

That left White to produce a dominant final run and the American punched the air in celebration confident that he had done the job.

It is Australia's second medal of the Olympics after Matt Graham claimed silver in the men's moguls. With the bronze medal, James became the first men's snowboard medallist from Australia at a Winter Olympics. Compatriots Kent Callister finished 10th.



Photo: AAP

"I came out and did it the Australian way and gave it a real hard crack, I was expecting a really good battle and a battle it was," James told Seven after winning bronze.

"I wish I kinda landed my second run but it is what it is.

"I'm just grateful to be standing up on the podium.

"It's my goal is to come out here and ride as best as I can and fly my Australian flag in the sport that is not necessarily done by many Australians.

"I'm very proud of my country and where I come from but I can assure you I am just getting started, you can expect to see a lot more of me in the future.

"It was amazing, it could have gone either way for any of us, but Shaun [White] is an amazing athlete, he's achieved a lot."



Photo: AAP

Re-live the halfpipe action as it happened in the blog below!

2.02pm - WHITE RUN, WHITE WINS GOLD! - The American has just had his final run and it was outstanding. He's left nothing to chance. It be close between him and Hirano. He certainly celebrated as if he'd won the gold medal when he landed his final trick. The judges agree and award him 97.75. That's an outstanding result. He's won the gold medal. It's the first time a snowboarder has won three gold medals at the Olympics. Hirano finishes with silver and James in third.

1.59pm - AUSSIE UPDATE - JAMES RUN - Disaster strikes for the Aussies. He pushed it on the final run but he's crashed landing one of his tricks. White is the only one who can steal gold off Hirano now. James will finish in third position. James finishes with 41.25 for his final run.

1.56pm - HIRANO RUN - Now Hirano has a nervous wait. He crashed during his final run so he can't improve his score. He's in gold medal position with James and White to follow.

1.54pm - FERGUSON RUN - Nervous times for the Aussie. American Ben Ferguson just laid down a killer run and looked like he could push James for third position. He came up just short with 90.75. That's at least the bronze medal for James.

1.46pm - JOSEY RUN - There won't be a medal for Josey. He's just had his final run and was going really well. Unfortunately he put his hands out after his final trick and touched the wall. It was only a slight hiccup but enough for him to land a score of 88.00.

1.36pm - AUSSIE UPDATE - CALLISTER RUN - Callister has just had his final run for the day. He started well but didn't have the air or speed to put him in medal contention. That reflected in his final trick when he struggled to stick the landing and ended up with a score of 56.75. Still a great effort from the Aussie though. He made the final which is huge.

1.31pm - WHITE RUN - This is set up for a thrilling finale. White has just had his second run and has crashed after one of his tricks. His score was in the 50's but he still hangs on to second spot and the silver medal with his first run.

1.30pm - AUSSIE UPDATE - JAMES RUN - Disaster strikes for the Aussie. He started strongly but lost a little speed after landing just a tad awkwardly off one of his tricks. There was worse to come when he failed to stick his final landing and had to put a hand out to stop a fall. That left him with 81.75. He's still in bronze medal position but will need a huge final run.

1.26pm - HIRANO RUN - Hirano has just had his second run and it was a ripper. He got some serious air off his first jump at the start which set him for the rest of his tricks. His team embraced up the top of the mountain and he's just returned 95.25. James and White have some work to do now. He's in the gold medal position.

1.17pm - CRASH! - Chase Josey was in third place with 87.75 after Hirano crashed and burned on his first run. He's just had his second run and unfortunately for him he's just crashed himself while trying to stick a landing. That opens the door for Hirano and everyone else now.

1.03pm - AUSSIE UPDATE - CALLISTER RUN - There's another Aussie in action but he's not pushing for a medal at the moment. Kent Callister scored 20.00 on his first run but pushed up to 62.00 on his second run. He's still got one more to go.

12.53pm - WHITE RUN - White has now had his first run and it was impressive. He's also produced a number of big moves and looked pretty happy when he stuck the landing for his final trick. He's raised his hands in triumph and why wouldn't he? He's ended up with a score of 94.25 to put him in front of the Aussie.

12.51pm - AUSSIE UPDATE - JAMES RUN - Big first run for James. Commentators are gushing over his back-to-back 1260's. The Aussie looked pretty confident. He launched off at the start and has produced the goods. He's finished with a solid 92.00. Great first run by Scotty.

12.44pm - HIRANO RUN - Hirano has just had his first run. He was going well but has a stumble on landing which is going to hurt his score. He's ended up with 35.25.

12.30pm - MEN'S SNOWBOARD HALFPIPE FINAL - The men's snowboarding halfpipe final appears to be a battle in three between Shaun White, Scotty James and Ayumu Hirano. The action is already underway at the course with the top three hopes still waiting to have their first run

Australia's gold medal snowboard halfpipe hope Scotty James has revealed that he spends his time talking to himself during his daring runs, where he is able to squeeze five tricks into his routine.

"I definitely do," James said.

"I've got time to talk to myself. I talk in third person pretty much. I drop in and say 'ok Scotty, run into this trick - do this and I'll do it.

Australia's Scotty James has said he has a few tricks up his sleeve for the final of the snowboard halfpipe. (AAP)

"Then I'll run into the next one and so on and so forth.

"By the time I'm at the bottom and I've put a good run together I'm thinking 'you bloody better put this down or I am going to be so disappointed'".

With three runs down the 'pipe for the final, James will get a little more time to talk to himself than the qualifying round which features just two.

It, judging controversies aside, gives the greater chance of a rider landing their best run to win the event.

The extraordinary quality of the qualifiers came as no surprise to James, who felt it was increasingly important to jockey for the best starting spots in the final.

"I wanted to finish further back in the field just so I can have a little bit more control of seeing the others and what they are doing and then how I can better my run," he said.

American Shaun White is the biggest threat to James winning gold in the snowboard halfpipe. (AAP)

White, as the top qualifier, will drop down the 'pipe after James in the first run.

And while there's still sure to be plenty of talk about what the judges do at the event's conclusion, at least there's unlikely to be any grievances about the 'pipe.

"I think it is going to be a really exciting final just because of the halfpipe as well," James said.

"This is the first Olympics out of the last two I have been to that the halfpipe has been in amazing condition, so it should be good."