Strap in for 'the biggest show ever' in halfpipe final as superstar Scotty James prepares 'insane' run

LIVIGNO: The stage is set for the men's snowboard halfpipe final to be "the biggest show ever" according to Australian young gun Valentino Guseli after he and Scotty James put themselves in position to go for gold in arguably the highest standard qualifying event ever seen at an Olympic Games.

James topped the score sheets with a staggering 94.00 in his first run while Guseli put in two outstanding performances to qualify sixth, backing up his first run 86.75 with an 86.25 to qualify him just ahead of Japanese megastar and defending gold medallist Ayumu Hirano.

Having won a bronze medal in Pyeongchang eight years ago then gone one better to clinch silver at Beijing 2022, James is dreaming of completing the set with a gold at Milano Cortina and he will start the final as a deserved favourite after topping the platoon of Japanese superstars who appear the most likely to knock him off.

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Guseli hinted that his superstar teammate still had some tricks up his sleeve and would likely pull out a never-before-seen combination in the final that had the potential to blow his opponents away.

"It could be anyone's day but Scotty's got some stuff that's pretty insane and pretty hard to beat," he said.

" ... I think he's going to be cooking up stuff that no one's seen before. But it won't be new for him, it's just that no one's seen it."

After the qualifying session, Australian reporters including Wide World of Sports put it to James that he might have something special up his sleeve but he wasn't prepared to show his cards.

"This sleeve is also very tight, so the wizard's sleeve, no the lips are pretty locked but I mean, this is my fifth Games, I'm pretty vintage at this point from an experience perspective," James said.

"And I've watched my peers before me and how they've strategised - and I've strategised, so we'll see how we go on Friday (Saturday AEDT), but of course, it's finals and you've got to bring something special and that's what I plan to do."

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Pushed again, James conceded he would need to "pull off the greatest run of my life" to stand atop the podium on Saturday morning (AEDT).

"I think the top six, anyone can win and I don't think that's been the case before," James said.

"Usually it's one or two people who kind of had a chance to win, so I think this time around it's going to be an amazing battle and a good showing for halfpipe riding in the men and that's why you've got to bring your best on Friday and I look forward to being part of it."

Now 31 and at his fifth Olympic Games, James has separated himself from the field in recent months by unveiling the first ever back-to-back combination of backside 1440s.

He stunned the snowboarding world when he executed the extremely technical and high degree of difficulty run to win gold at X Games in Aspen last month and he conceded he would likely need to again use that combination in the final.

"But all the tricks are so scary and pretty daunting that it takes a lot of energy to want to practice these tricks all the time," he said.

"Obviously you practice them as much as you can, but usually in that moment, in a final, that environment and that intensity kind of brings out those tricks in a really positive way, so for me to do them and prepare to do them on Friday will be exciting and I'm looking forward to it."

Both James and Guseli said the support that they were feeling from Australia, both in Livigno where green and gold is one of the most dominant colour schemes, and from afar was pushing them to do their nation proud.

"We were just talking about going HAM in finals and getting our country up there," Guseli said, referencing a conversation he'd had with James after their qualifying runs.

"We're just trying to like - hopefully next year there's a lot more people snowboarding in the mountains of Australia, that would be amazing."

James added that he was drawing off Guseli's energy and that the two were in it together in an effort to take down the Japanese stars who qualified second, third, fifth and seventh.

"Honestly, it's unbelievable riding with him. He's an incredible talent across many disciplines, it's unbelievable," James said.

"I have a lot of respect for him as a rider, he's a great kid, he's really nice, and he wants to win and I respect that.

" ... I think looking around I saw more green and gold than any other country so I think we have a good contingent here and my family, I haven't seen them yet, but saw a lot of Aussie flags and feeling a lot of love from home, and just hope we can put on a good show on Friday and represent Australia well."

James and Guseli will compete in the halfpipe final on Saturday from 5.30am (AEDT).