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There is one thing missing from Scotty James’s pool room.
Among the Australian snowboarder’s most prized pieces of sporting memorabilia are a signed Kobe Bryant jersey from his rookie NBA year with the LA Lakers, an autographed helmet worn by Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, one of Essendon AFL great Dustin Fletcher’s footy boots and a boxing glove worn by Mexican pugilist Canelo Alvarez.
There are also his Winter Olympic medals – a bronze from PyeongChang in 2018 and a silver from Beijing in 2022.
Scotty James celebrates his silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.Credit: Getty Images
But, so far, a gold medal has proved elusive.
“From an accolade perspective, and having a stone left unturned, the gold is definitely [what I want], it’s the obvious choice if I were to be fully transparent,” James says.
“But I know full and well from the experience in my career that I’m going to get there not by focusing on it, I’m going to get there by focusing on the important things – the training, the preparation and the other things that keep me engaged and excited about snowboarding – the creativity, the constant drive to evolve, to want to be the best every year.”
A gold medal is the carrot dangling in front of James as he works towards the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
But he concedes he questioned at times whether his hunger for gold was enough to carry him through another Olympic cycle.
“I’ve had moments where I’ve thought maybe I shouldn’t continue any more,” he says.
“I’ve had moments where I felt like I was clawing to find some inspiration to want to get up and go and put myself at risk. I’ve had moments where I’ve just thought maybe what I’ve done is enough, and I don’t need to continue, and I actually have that every year.”
A 14-year-old Scotty James competes at Perisher Valley in 2009.
After a career that has spanned almost two decades, James believes it is important to acknowledge those doubts when they arise, to keep himself honest.
James made his international debut as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Europa Cup in Switzerland. He was selected in the Australian Olympic team for the 2010 Games in Vancouver to replace the injured Nathan Johnstone, and has been a staple of the side ever since.
He was the flag bearer at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, and was on track to win halfpipe competition four years later before Japan’s Ayumu Hirano snatched gold with an incredible final run.
Scotty James carrying the Australian flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.Credit: Getty
As the next Olympic cycle began, for next year’s Milano Cortina Games, James realised that at 31, he still had more to give.
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“There’s something about it that keeps drawing you back,” he said. “And for me, it’s always been [about] being open-minded about, ‘Why am I here? What am I doing it for? What’s my purpose in the halfpipe?’
“I’ve always been able to find that edge, because I do think it’s an edge. [But] That ability to find that want to continue to do those things that you don’t necessarily want to do, is hard.”
James’s ability to remain competitive after all this time is a testament to his longevity. Ten years after he won his first halfpipe world championship gold, James continues to challenge for honours, most recently taking out the world title in Switzerland in March 2025.
“My motivation has always changed,” James says on finding the drive to keep going.
“One year I’ve been like, ‘Winning was everything I thought about’, and the other years, I didn’t put [it] as much on a pedestal. So I had to find other ways to get motivated. I became a dad recently, so that’s been a really awesome motivator for me to now want to win, but do it with a family at my side.
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“If I tried to continue to want to be the best from the day I started 10 years ago, I’d just run myself into the ground because I don’t operate the same. So I’ve always been open-minded about how I can evolve to keep that level of intensity.”
James is ranked world No.4 in halfpipe ahead of the Olympics, which begin on February 6. Does he believe he can win that elusive gold?
“I think I’m just more grounded [than in previous years],” he says. “I think I have a lot of perspective. I have obviously learnt a lot from my experience in the past. If I’ve made mistakes, I’m not making those again.
“From a preparation perspective, I think this has by far been my best preparation for an Olympics because I’ve left no stone unturned. That’s from a snowboarding perspective, a mental perspective, physical perspective and my life away from snow.”
The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.
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