CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT

Arguably the most, and only, exciting event at the 2018 Winter Olympics is currently underway. The snowboarding final.

That is, of course, from an Australian perspective, as the nation currently gets behind our potential gold medal snowboarding sensation Scotty James.

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 prove themselves and take the opportunities when they see them.

However, back home in the sweltering pubs and living rooms of Australia, majority of the country isn’t so sure about what they should be looking for.

“I think they score you on the amount of flips you do” says one punter, Graham, currently sitting in the TAB of Betoota’s Lord Kidman hotel.

“No you dickhead” says his mate Len.

“It’s how high up you each time you go up”

Like the rest of the country, these two men are arguing about how one scores snowboarding, in an attempt to validate the bets they just placed.

“I think it’s all about slide along the top. It’s called grinding” says the bartender, Shel.

Win or lose, Scotty James is a hero in the eyes of millions of Australians today, as his gold medal dash provides much needed respite from the reality TV that dominates screens between cricket and footy in the awful month of February.