Scotty James win a fifth straight Winter X title, matches Shaun White with his eighth gold there
Scotty James parlayed a never-before-tried trick combination into his fifth straight X Games title on the halfpipe and tied Shaun White with his eighth overall gold medal at the biggest event this side of the Olympics
Snowboarder Scotty James parlayed a never-before-landed trick combination into his fifth straight X Games title on the halfpipe on Saturday and tied Shaun White with eight overall gold medals at the biggest event this side of the Olympics.
In the final major contest before next month's Milan Cortina Games, the 31-year-old Australian capped off his winning run with two straight backside 1440-degree jumps. That's two tricks spinning with his back facing down the hill to start, one while riding forward, the other riding backward — or “switch.” They are among the toughest on the halfpipe.
James briefly put his hand onto the snow to stay upright after the second jump, but the judges rewarded him anyway. His score of 95 easily beat second-place finisher Haku Shimasaki of Japan.
“I felt I wanted to do something for myself and for halfpipe and to push backside riding as much as I can,” said Scott, who wore his trademark red boxing gloves and celebrated by crowd surfing into the hundreds of fans who watched the action in Aspen, Colorado. “Tonight, I think it always was the plan. I wanted to come out and do the first back-to-back backside 14s, and I'm pumped.”
James is looking like the favorite heading into the Milan Cortina Olympics. Last week, he won the Laax Open in Switzerland — a contest in which defending Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano suffered a nasty fall and broke bones in his face, throwing his status for the Olympic halfpipe contest into limbo.
James has Olympic silver and bronze medals. In a documentary on his life that dropped earlier this Winter, he made no secret that he needs the Olympic gold to round out an otherwise impeccable career.
Recommended for you
James has also shown a triple cork — three head-over-heels flips — as part of his repertoire this season, though the back-to-back 1440s was something nobody had seen.
He said he has always admired groundbreakers, such as slopestyler Mark McMorris, 2014 Olympic halfpipe champion Iouri Podladtchikov (the iPod) and White, and wanted to use this latest X Games performance to add something new.
“I get a chip on my shoulder every year, thinking maybe I wouldn't be expected to show up and try again and win again,” he said. “I managed to do that today, and I'm speechless, honestly.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.