The one thing Australian Scotty James is missing as he eyes his fifth Olympic Games
Scotty James has one more thing to add to the pool room.
His most valuable belongings in the ‘GOAT room’ include the Kobe Bryant jersey from his rookie NBA year with the LA Lakers, Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo’s signed helmet, Essendon AFL’s great star Dustin Fletcher’s football shoes and Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez’s boxing gloves.
There is also winter Olympic bronze James wins halfpipe in PyeongChang in 2018 and silver from Beijing in 2022.
Scotty James celebrates his silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.Credit: Getty Images
The only thing missing is an elusive Olympic gold.
“From a reward perspective and having no stone unturned, gold is definitely [what I want]Being completely transparent is the obvious choice,” says James.
“But I know very well from my experiences in my career that I will get there not by focusing, but by focusing on the important things – training, preparation and other things that keep me busy and excited about snowboarding – creativity, the drive to constantly improve, wanting to be the best every year.”
This gold medal is the carrot dangling in front of James as he trains for the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
But even James admits he questions whether his hunger for gold will be enough to carry him through another Olympic cycle and get him out of bed every day.
“There were moments when I thought maybe I shouldn’t go on anymore,” he says.
“There were moments when I felt like I was struggling to find some inspiration to get up and take the plunge. There were also moments when I thought what I was doing might be enough and I didn’t need to keep going, and in fact I experience this every year.”
14-year-old Scotty James competes at Perisher Valley in 2009.
James says it’s important to talk about these doubts because they’re normal, especially after a career that spans nearly two decades.
James made his international debut at the 2008 European Cup in Switzerland at the age of 14. He made the Australian Olympic team for the first time at the 2010 Games in Vancouver following Nathan Johnstone’s injury. James has been indispensable to the team ever since.
She was the bronze medal-winning flag bearer at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang and was on track to win gold in Beijing before Japan’s Ayumu Hirano took the lead with an incredible final run.
Scotty James carries the Australian flag at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.Credit: Getty
As the next Games cycle begins for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, James, 31, realized he still has more to give.
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“There’s something about it that keeps pulling you back. And for me it’s always [about] Keeping an open mind about why I’m here? What am I doing this for? What is my purpose in the halfpipe?” he says.
“I’ve always been able to find that advantage because I think it’s an advantage. [But] The ability to find the will to continue doing things you don’t necessarily want to do is difficult.
Considering the length of his career, it’s surprising that James has managed to stay relevant and competitive. Ten years since he won his first halfpipe world title in Austria in 2015, James continues to perform with his most recent world championship title in Switzerland in March 2025.
“My motivation has always changed,” says James, who finds the drive to keep going.
“One year, winning was all I thought about, other years I did nothing. [it] as well as on a pedestal. So I had to find other ways to stay motivated. I recently became a father, this has been a really great motivation for me, now I want to win but I want to do it with my family by my side.
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“If I had continued to want to be the best from the day I started 10 years ago, I would have destroyed myself because I don’t train the same way. So I’ve always kept an open mind about how I can improve to maintain that level of intensity.”
James is world No. 4 in the halfpipe ahead of the Olympics, which start on February 6. The only question that remains is whether he believes he is in the best position to win gold there.
“I think I’m more down-to-earth [than in previous years]. I think I have a lot of perspective. Of course, I learned a lot from my past experiences. “If I made mistakes, I won’t make them again,” says James.
“From a preparation perspective, I think this is by far my best preparation for an Olympics because I left no stone unturned. That’s from a snowboarding perspective, from a mental perspective, from a physical perspective, from my life away from the snow.”
Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on television 9Network, 9Now And Stan Sports.
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