Scotty James has just fallen short of recording a historic fourth straight halfpipe World Championship gold medal, claiming the silver medal in Aspen, USA, while Tess Coady has taken bronze, joining the legendary Torah Bright as the only Australian snowboarder to win a World Championship medal in slopestyle.
James put down an impressive opening run scoring 90.50 points to lead all competitors after the first round of finals.
Going past James in the second run was Yuto Totsuka from Japan who moved into first place with a score of 93 points. Totsuka increased his score on his third and final run with a huge 96.25 points to take the gold medal.
Rounding out the podium in the bronze medal position was Jan Scherrer of Switzerland who scored 87 points in his final run.
“Happy to come out here representing Australia doing the best I can, and that is really what I did today and that was a second place,” said the 2018 Olympic bronze medallist.
“Today I learnt a lot of lessons and things I will be able to move forward and put into play when I go into my offseason. I have tricks I want to achieve, and I will be back to where I want to be.”
“Huge thank you to everyone back home that has been supporting me to this day. I wish I could have brought back a gold medal but give me a little bit of time and I will do no doubt do it again.”
In his World Championship debut, 15-year-old Australian snowboarding prodigy Valentino Guseli was unlucky not to make the 10-man final, missing out by just one place in 11th position. In the women’s event, Emily Arthur finished in tenth place, matching her best performance of the season.
The athletes will remain in Aspen for another week, with the World Cup final scheduled to take place on March 21. James will be looking to win his fourth World Cup Crystal Globe title and finish the season with a victory.
In the best of three-run final, Coady was super consistent, putting down good scores in each of her competition runs, with her highest score of 78.13 coming in run number two.
Coady’s run included a smooth rail section at the top of the course followed by the jump section with a switch backside 900, backside 720 and a frontside 720 with a double grab.
Taking the win was New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott with a score of 85.95 points, with two-time Olympic champion Jamie Anderson of the USA in second place scoring 81.10 points.
“I am so stocked, it’s been a really great week here”, said the 2017 World Junior Champion from Melbourne.
“I was psyched when I made finals, but to come out with a podium is the best, it’s the cherry on top.
“It’s a tough field, the women are on another level at the moment and I am really excited to be a part of that.”
The medal is Coady’s second of the season and the fourth major medal of her career (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze).
Coady will be back in action in Aspen competing in the World Championship big air event, with qualifications on March 15 and finals on March 17.
