Australian snowboarder Scotty James has narrowly missed out on Olympic Gold this afternoon in Pyeongchang, in an epic battle with snowboarding icon Shaun White in a battle that came down to the wire. James stumbled on his final run, handing White the win, and Ayumu Hirano the silver medal.
James pulled out all stops to produce a top ride score of 92 in an impressive display in the half pipe event during his first ride, which earned him the bronze medal against Shaun White’s top score of 97.75. Japanese boarder Hirano came in second with a 95.25, while fellow Australian Kent Callister placed in 10th posting a 62 point ride.
The young Australian flag bearer and World Champion had enourmous pressure on his shoulders heading into the final, following a lead up to the Games that included back and forth wins with White (affectionately known as “The Flying Tomato”), including the World Cup and last months silver at the X-Games.
As a youngster in the sport, James has a huge future ahead of him, and today’s Olympic Final is another highlight on an already impressive resume.
Today’s result is another notch on the incredible career belt for White, with his inspirational career spanning almost two decades. The Olympic, X-Games and World Cup veteran recently opened up to Jimmy Kimmel about his struggles as a child with congenital heart disease.
“I was slowly turning blue and my parents knew something was up. The doctors came in and found out that was the scenario, the heart condition. I obviously don’t remember much, at that point. I was so young. It kind of brought back a lot, seeing that. I have the same exact photo [as Kimmel and his son] with the tubes and the what not. I have a lot of socks, actually, from when I was that age. Because, my mom… The only thing she could dress me with was socks because she couldn’t touch me in my tube while I was getting the operation,” said White in the clip.
