The medals kept coming for Australia's winter athletes with Scotty James, Cam Bolton and Belle Brockhoff picking up gold, silver and bronze respectively.
It was a golden FIS World Cup opener for Australia’s Scotty James at the US Grand Prix halfpipe at Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA.
The 25-year-old snowboarder from Warrandyte, Melbourne, took the first place podium for the second consecutive year at the event.
James, a three-time Winter Olympian, led the field with a mammoth 96 point first run in challenging snow and flat light conditions and held the first run lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his third and final run.
“I definitely put some added pressure on myself after last year with some big expectations,” the Australian Institute of Sport Male Athlete of the Year said.
“I had to iron those emotions over and just come out with a clear head and approach it as a new season. I did that and just came out today and knew what I had to do to be up top.
"The elements weren’t in our favour today but everyone rode really well and I knew they were going to, so I had to bring it today.”
James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three-time FIS World Champion won an Olympic bronze medal at PyeongChang in 2018, has a plethora of X Games medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and now seven FIS World Cup medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.
Cameron Bolton and Belle Brockhoff also won a place on the podium, at the FIS World Cup in Montafon, Austria.
Bolton, 29, from Melbourne, Victoria, won silver in the men’s snowboard cross and Brockhoff, 26, from Melbourne took bronze in the women’s.
Bolton’s silver is his third World Cup medal and first silver placement. The two-time Winter Olympian secured his spot in the final in tough weather conditions with heavy snow and wind to take second at the finish line.
“I’m absolutely wrapped to come away with a second for the first event, I took it one heat at a time,” Bolton said of his race strategy.
“I’m looking for a podium in every race, I think you have to go into every race looking for that.”
It was a particularly sweet third place for Brockhoff. This season is her first full season back after two separate knee injuries in the past two years.
The bronze medal at Montafon on Friday (local time) is her eighth World Cup medal (3 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) and first since 2017.
“I’m so happy, it’s been a long road,” an ecstatic Brockhoff said.
“I had quite a few plans in place to see what would happen at the start and best options to take. This is a great way to start the 2019/2020 season.”
Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT) took gold and Omar Visinton (ITA) took bronze in the men’s event and Australian PyeongChang Winter Olympic silver medallist, Jarryd Hughes, came third in the small final to finish seventh place overall.
James will travel to Secret Garden in China for the next FIS World Cup on December 20 to 22, while the Australian snowboard cross team will now travel to Cervinia, Italy, for the next FIS World Cup on December 22.
