Snowboard king makes X-Games history to continue reign

Melissa Woods | January 25, 2026

Scotty James has made history with the Australian snowboard king taking the mantle from all-time great Shaun White for the most X-Games medals with a spectacular showing in Aspen.

Less than two weeks out from the opening ceremony at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, James’s build-up for his fifth Games could not have gone better as he bids for an elusive gold medal to add to his silver and bronze.

Fresh off his fifth halfpipe victory at the Laax Open in Switzerland, James clinched the X-Games win with two ground-breaking runs under lights in the superpipe.

The 31-year-old included a switch backside 1440 in his run – the first time the trick had ever been executed in the competition’s 25-year history – to earn a score of 92.33.

But then the veteran went even larger in the third and final run, following up his switch backside 1440 with a 1440 – again the first time the tricks had been linked, with even his rivals reacting in awe.

James touched down with his hands on his final landing of the backwards-spinning move but the degree of technical difficulty couldn’t be ignored with judges awarding a score of 95.00.

The victory was the Victorian’s fifth successive X-Games gold medal and eighth in total in the halfpipe, matching retired great White’s title mark. 

But it was James’s 11th medal in the event, eclipsing the American’s overall medal haul of 10. 

Haku Shimisaki, aged just 16, won silver with a score of 89.66 while fellow Japanese rider Shuichiro Shigeno was third with 85.00.

“I never take anyone for granted, all my competitors that I ride against, every year they get better,” James said.

“And tonight I knew I had to do something to put my best foot forward and try and win.

“They inspire me as, I think maybe I’ve got a chip on my shoulder every year thinking maybe I wouldn’t be expected to show up and try again and win again and I managed to do that today.”

James said he was inspired to complete the revolutionary final run by some of the halfpipe greats, including White, who had come before him.

“I wanted to do something for myself and for the halfpipe and push backside riding as much as I can and I think that was the plan – I wanted to come out and do the first ever back-to-back backside 14s ever so I’m pumped.”

James’s result followed an impressive showing by teenage freeskier Indra Brown in her X-Games debut.

The 15-year-old continued to put herself in the Olympic medal mix with the young gun storming to silver in the superpipe on Saturday.

Following her stunning results in her maiden World Cup season, bagging three medals, including gold, from three starts, Brown won silver behind Britain’s reigning world champion Zoe Atkin.

Showing no fear, she pushed for more amplitude and improved with a score of 90.00 in the final round.

Atkin, one of the favourites for Olympic gold in Livigno, was a cut above with a top score of 94.66.

Canadian Cassie Sharpe, who won silver at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, was third with a score of 87.00.

Fellow Australian Tess Coady was unlucky to miss the podium in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event.

Coady, who won bronze in the event in Beijing and will line up again in Italy, scored 86.00 for her final run but was unable to catch Japan’s Kokomo Murase’s best mark of 89.66.

Britain’s Mia Brookes claimed gold with a 96.33 on her second run, with New Zealand’s Olympic champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott taking silver after a 93.00 with her third and final run.