Scotty James shrugs off snowboard halfpipe pressure as he chats about romantic ties
Scotty James is warming up for his fourth tilt at the Olympic Winter Games men’s snowboard halfpipe. His form suggests he could be on course for a gold medal. Yet all the chat in Australia recently has been about the love lives of James and his sister.
Scotty James is Australia’s snowboard halfpipe gold-medal hopeful for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
And he has done plenty recently to enhance his poster-boy image. Not content with being engaged to F1 billionaire Lawrence’s Stroll’s daughter, James was recently seen joking with his sister’s boyfriend on breakfast TV in Australia.
James is about to compete in his fourth consecutive Olympic Winter Games, and shared on Saturday (5 February) that he's "super happy" and in a good headspace for competition. That included finding time less than a week after his X-Games gold medal in Aspen on 21 January to appear on the Channel 7 show Sunrise.
“Our own [weatherman] Sam Mac is dating your sister, Rebecca,” said host Nat Barr.
“We understand you haven’t had a chance to meet in person. Do you think, though, from what you’ve read, that she could have done better?”
James’ replied with tongue firmly wedged in cheek.
“No one will ever be good enough for my sister Rebecca.
“Sam’s acceptance is on the line here, when he’s going to have to tell me how the weather is in China.
"If this weatherman can’t pull it off then we might have an issue when we finally meet.” - Scotty James
Weatherman Mac was quick to bat back with his own sporting credentials.
“The great thing for Scotty, and I hope this is an edge for him heading into the Olympic Games, is that I’ve represented Australia at international-level schoolboy soccer.
“So there is an elite athlete synergy that we seem to have. It’s almost an unspoken thing that a lot of people just wouldn’t get, but I feel that could be the difference.”
James himself got engaged to Chloe Stroll in November last year. Chloe’s father Lawrence owns the Aston Martin F1 team, which her brother Lance Stroll drives for.
“I really did set myself up well,” James said.
“You ask me about pressure – there’s no more pressure than asking Chloe’s dad in particular for her hand in marriage.
“And the other pressure was on the day asking the woman of my dreams to marry me.
“I’ve set myself up well in the world of pressure at the moment.”
This is handy given James’ halfpipe aspirations. At 27, he will feel the time is right to add to his PyeongChang 2018 bronze medal and his three world championships. James was the first Australian male to win an Olympic halfpipe medal.
Snowboard king Shaun White recently appeared to admit he is fallible, while James proved in Aspen that he could best Japanese rival Hirano Ayumu.
James was the youngest Australian team member at Vancouver 2010 when he was just 15. He competed in his first international event in the Europa Cup in Switzerland when he was 14.
James began competing in snowboard racing aged six after his dad bought him a $10 board. It’s safe to say his world has changed somewhat since then.
When can I watch Scotty James competing at Beijing 2022?
The men's snowboard halfpipe qualification is on Wednesday 9 February at 12:30 in China (20:30pm on Tuesday 8 February PST). The final runs will be held on Friday 11 February at 09:30 local time (17:30 on Thursday 10 February PST).
Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here.