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Livigno: The stage is set for Scotty James to finally claim an Olympic gold medal after the Australian dominated in the men’s halfpipe qualifying on Wednesday night (local time) with a score of 94 – 2.75 points ahead of his nearest competitor.
James, who is looking to complete his Olympic medal set in Livigno after winning bronze at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang and silver at the 2022 Games in Beijing, reminded the rest of the field why he’s the favourite to become Olympic champion with a technical routine that impressed the judges and set him well above the rest of the field.
Scotty James during his first run in the men’s qualifying on Wednesday night.Credit: AP
The 31-year-old Australian pulled out a switch backside double cork 1440 Japan – four full rotations – as part of his five-trick routine.
The score is even more impressive when you consider that James didn’t even deploy the trick that saw him win a record fifth straight X Games gold medal last month: the switch backside 1440 into a backside 1440.
In simple terms, it’s when a rider travels backwards into the trick before completing four rotations and landing facing their regular way, before going up the other side of the halfpipe and completing another four rotations.
James had to abandon his second run after a small fumble, but with the best of two scores taken, he had already set himself up for a spot in the final.
Countryman Valentino Guseli also qualified for the final after an impressive run that saw him score 86.75 from his first run and finish in sixth.
The men’s final is at 5.30am (AEDT) on Saturday, February 14.
More to come
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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
