Scotty James wins back to back gold in China

Courtsey of www.owia.org

It was another golden performance for Australia’s Scotty James overnight at the World Cup event in Secret Garden, China, site of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games competition.

The 25 year old snowboarder from Warrandyte, Melbourne, took the first place podium for the second consecutive time this season.

James led the field with a mammoth 97.80 points in his second run, and held the lead for the rest of the event with a simple victory lap on his third and final run.

“It was definitely a pretty tough day with lots of elements to consider, some winds, a lot of snow, but I mean we prepare for the worst really, so I was really happy that was the run I wanted to do, regardless if it was sunny or snowing”, said the three time World Champion.

“My first run I wasn’t super happy, I did a little hand drag on the last hit, and I knew that I would get docked for that. I knew what I had to do on the second run and I just went back to the top refreshed and got ready to go again.”

“The Japanese athletes really brought it to me today, and I knew they would, so I just came out and gave it my best shot and it seems to be paying off.”

“I am really happy to leave my mark here and finish up with a win. With Secret Garden the Olympic venue in 2022, it was important for me to come here and not leave anything on the table, which I didn’t, and I am stoked.”

James is Australia’s most successful male snowboarder to date. The three time 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 eight FIS World Cup medals (5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to add to his collection.

Behind James on the podium were Japanese riders Yuto Totsuka (95.80) in second and Ruka Hirano (92.50) in third.

James will next compete at the Laax Open in Switzerland from January 14-18.