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Livigno: Scotty James owns a piece of Muhammad Ali’s brain.
Not physically, of course. It’s a doodle by Ali called ‘Guiding Light’: of two mountains, a lighthouse, and a little boat sitting in the middle of the ocean. An image that once sat inside the mind of arguably the greatest athlete of all time, casually dumped onto an A1 sheet of paper, which now lives proudly in James’ ‘GOAT room’ – a collection of sporting artefacts in his office from athletes who he admires.
‘Guiding Light’, an artwork by Muhammad Ali. Scotty James owns a different version, drawn in Sharpie in Las Vegas in 2002. Credit: eBay
Two years ago, James was coming into the X Games and feeling a little bit on the “back foot” when he spoke to the guy who sells him his memorabilia.
“I was just like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing OK, but I’m struggling with some stuff.’ He goes, ‘I’ve got something special to show you. I wasn’t going to sell it,’” James said.
“He did a signing with Muhammad Ali in 2002 in Las Vegas, and he pulled out this … [Ali] drew it with a Sharpie and I bought it. And I remember I ended up winning X Games that week. That’s probably the most sentimental, cool, special thing that I own.
“I’ve got some Kobe Bryant jerseys signed … got some Tiger Woods stuff, got some Roger Federer stuff. The list goes on of who else I want to get, but it’s cool. And I usually try and grab a quote from each of them that I think is an amazing quote, put a little tab under the piece of memorabilia so I can look at it.”
Everything is set up for James to achieve his own legacy moment at Milano Cortina 2026, to confirm his rightful place amongst those sporting GOATs.
If he needs inspiration, Ali’s ‘Guiding Light’ is always there. But for James, the 31-year-old Australian snowboarding superstar, inspiration is everywhere.
It’s in the Livigno halfpipe he took a photo of just before his press conference on Saturday, nerding out to check if it was dead straight or not; it is, he confirmed.
It’s in the athletes’ village here, one of the “coolest” environments he says he’s experienced at the Olympics.
Scotty James speaks to reporters in Livigno on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
It’s in the crammed little apartment where he was trying to make dinner with his family the night before.
A few things have changed for James since the last Winter Olympics. He’s married now, to Canadian singer-songwriter Chloe Stroll, the daughter of a billionaire. Stroll’s brother is an F1 driver. They have an 18-month-old son, Leo, and he’s inspiration personified; James’ own guiding light.
“I think being a snowboarder in such a risky sport, naturally, when you’re thinking about having kids … I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do,” he said.
“What’s pretty grim is you’ve got a lot more to live for now. Does that make me more scared to go out and try things that I need to do to win? I thought about that when we were having Leo, but to be honest, it’s been an amazing blessing. It’s shown me to be very present every day. Wake up, he’s got an extra tooth … it’s been amazing having him here and I look forward to sharing whatever the outcome is with him. He’s going to help me ride.”
Scotty James competing in Aspen in January.Credit: Getty Images
There’s no question what James is trying to achieve: an elusive gold medal.
He won bronze in the men’s halfpipe at Pyeongchang 2018, then silver at Beijing 2022. The natural progression is the clear narrative, the strongest Australian storyline in Livigno, and he is not afraid to admit it.
He said it to the whole world, describing the fact he hasn’t won gold yet as “the elephant in the room” within the first minute of the Netflix documentary about his life and career, Pipe Dream, released in December – which, in and of itself, is the kind of move an athlete makes when they are very clearly thinking about crowning their legacy.
Pulling back the curtain on his childhood and personal life in that way, James said was “incredibly terrifying”, but he was proud to have had the platform to promote his sport, and action sport athletes in general.
“We’re all kind of misfits,” he said.
“Maybe we didn’t fit in somewhere else in the world and we found ourselves in this industry. I was one of those people. I probably didn’t go to school and cooperate like I should have. To be honest, coming and wearing a uniform and dressing up isn’t in my natural DNA.
“To be here on this stage is amazing … I don’t even know how many action sports athletes there’s been in history, but I can tell you there’s amazing stories. For me, I felt lucky and fortunate that I was the one that actually got to tell my story. I hope that through that experience that people watching my film, my journey to pursue snowboarding and my love and my passion, opened them up to want to learn more about the guy next to me who’s snowboarding, or the girl that’s running practice with me, or skateboarding, whatever it is.”
James’ idea of his personal legacy is broader than a gold medal. Just last month, he won his eighth X Games title by doing something no other snowboarder has ever done before: linking a switch backside 1440 into a backside 1440, a nightmarishly difficult trick combination.
Scotty James with the gold medal he won at the X Games in January after doing something no other snowboarder has ever done before: linking a switch backside 1440 into a backside 1440.Credit: Getty Images
He gave a long, technical explanation of why he chooses to pursue the harder road in halfpipe by prioritising backside and switch-backside riding, when most of his rivals go for easier frontside hits, describing it as akin to pushing a large rock uphill.
The “footprint” he wants to leave behind, he said, is to encourage others to pursue more technical challenges, and change the way halfpipe is both ridden and judged.
Closer to home, James has helped the Thredbo Resort create Australia’s first Olympic-sized halfpipe for training, a piece of infrastructure that is helping homegrown riders get better, including some of his direct rivals, like young gun Valentino Guseli.
But what he really wants to do is compete on home soil, in front of Aussie fans.
“I think it would probably most likely be through an event like X Games, which I hope will happen,” he said.
“The list goes on of all these athletes who spend so much time away from Australia to compete, which is a blessing – but it would be amazing and probably the most rewarding thing for me in my career is to watch all of them and myself compete in front of my own crowd.
“That’s a big, big, big rock to move uphill, but I do think it’s possible.”
For now, though, the focus is much narrower. James’ competition begins on Thursday morning (5.30am AEDT), and the consensus in the snowboarding world is that it’d almost be a crime if he didn’t end his career with a gold medal.
The good news is that, whatever happens, these Games – his fifth – will not be his final. He still gets nervous before hitting the halfpipe; he still goes to bed at night dreaming of doing it again the next day, and then waking up with the same thoughts.
“Not because it’s controlling me, but because I genuinely have a passion for it. It’s what I love,” he said. “I’m obsessed.”
Despite his advancing age, in a sport that skews very young, he promises he has much more in his locker.
“No-one thought back-to-back backside 1440s was possible. I’m 31 years old and I did it,” James said.
“I don’t think that an Olympic gold medal is unattainable. I look after myself, I take care of myself mentally and physically. I love what I do every single day, and this is not my last go-around either. I think it’s possible to win and I think it’s possible to win again, as long as I look after myself and see how we go.”
But he also insists he doesn’t need a gold medal to “validate” himself, that it would be a “nice thing” to have, but not essential.
That’s what he says to a room full of journalists, anyway.
“Yesterday I drove into the mountain with my family in the car, and I looked over at the pipe … and I just thought, what an amazing opportunity,” he said.
“Honestly, I think to be here and represent the country and be at the Olympics is special. I don’t take life for granted at all. The only promise any of us can make as human beings, regardless if we’re athletes or not, is our best. For me, that’s what I plan to do. And my best hopefully is good enough to get it done.
“I think pressure is a beautiful thing, if you let it. So I’ll soak in that beauty. At least that’s what I’ll tell myself.”
The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
