James has to settle for second Olympic halfpipe silver
Melissa Woods |
Snowboard superstar Scotty James has fallen short in his quest to complete his Olympic medal collection, the Australian outgunned by his Japanese rivals in the Milan-Cortina halfpipe.
James was looking to continue a golden streak for Australia after Josie Baff’s victory in the snowboard cross earlier in the day and Cooper Woods’s unexpected triumph in the moguls event.
Competing at his fifth Olympics, 31-year-old James had to settle for another silver medal.
He still makes history as the first Australian to win three medals, winning silver in Beijing (2022) and bronze in PyeongChang eight years ago.
Japan’s world No.1 Yuto Totsuka scored a whopping 95.00 to take the gold medal while his countryman Ryusei Yamada bagged bronze with 92.00.
James fell on his first run trying to land the combination that he put down for the first time in competition at last month’s X-Games, with a switch backside 1440 directly into a backside 1440.
He nailed it in his second run and looked dismayed when he was only awarded 93.50 despite being the only rider to complete the elite-level sequence.
The Victorian had one last chance to improve on his silver medal position but was unable to improve his score, falling again.
Australia’s other competitor in the Livigno final, Valentino Guseli, also crashed twice but showed his immense talent on his last run, scoring 88.00, to finish fifth.
AAP
