Historic 1-2 finish for James and Guseli in Switzerland

Courtesy OWIA

In a historic night for Australian snowboarding, Scotty James and Valentino Guseli have claimed gold and silver in the halfpipe event in Laax, Switzerland, the first time Australia has taken out the top two spots in the sport. 

In a spectacular final under lights, both James and Guseli put down two great runs with both riders displaying huge amplitude, style and super difficult tricks.

James' best score in the two-run final came in his first run, where he scored 94 points to record the ninth World Cup win of his impressive career and third victory in the Laax halfpipe.

Guseli scored 90 points on his first run, and then in the final round stepped it up performing a trick that had never been landed in competition, stomping a frontside 1620 tailgrab to score 92.25 points and finish in second place.

Rounding out the podium was Ruka Hirano of Japan who scored 90 points on his final run.

“I feel pretty damm good, it’s tough to win this event so tonight I had to bring my best and it feels amazing to stand on top of the podium” said James the two-time Olympic medallist and triple World Champion from Warrandyte in Victoria.

“Laax feels like a home away from home, it’s always such an incredible the event, the fans and the crowd and the atmosphere is always really special here and unmatched.”

James on his impressive switch McTwist pullback to regular jump.

“It’s something I brought in this year, and I really try to push creativity and technicality in snowboarding, and of course you can’t really do these things without a lot of amplitude and execution, so tonight it was thankfully a combination of all those things which is really nice.”

For Guseli, the podium performance is the seventh World Cup medal of his career, and first in the Laax halfpipe.

“To get to the bottom of two runs and having stomped them both, and I think they are some of the best runs I have done, so I am really happy and stoked to have some momentum rolling into the season,” said the 18-year-old teen snowboard prodigy from Dalmeny on the NSW South Coast.

“He (Scotty James) is amazing, coming from Australia we actually don’t have a 22-foot halfpipe anywhere in the whole country, and it’s pretty crazy being second to one of the guys that is the best to ever do it and we are both from the same country and can hold our flag up really high which is a beautiful thing.”

James and Guseli will now head to Aspen, USA, for the X-Games on January 26.