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 poolroom.

Among his most prized possessions in the ‘GOAT room’ is a signed Kobe Bryant jersey from his rookie NBA year with the LA Lakers, an autographed helmet from Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, a football boot from Essendon AFL great Dustin Fletcher and a boxing glove from Mexican pugilist, Canelo Alvarez.

There’s also the Winter Olympic bronze James won in the half pipe at PyeongChang in 2018 and the silver from Beijing in 2022.

The one thing that’s missing is an elusive Olympic gold.

“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.”

That gold medal is the carrot that’s been dangling in front of James as he works towards the 2026 Olympics in Italy.

But even James concedes he’d questioned whether the hunger for gold was enough to carry him through another Olympic cycle and get him out of bed each day.

“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.”

It’s important to talk about those doubts, says James, because they’re normal, especially after a career that’s expanded almost two decades.

James made his international debut as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Europa Cup in Switzerland. He made the Australian Olympic team for the first time at the 2010 Games in Vancouver after Nathan Johnstone was ruled out injured. James has been a staple of the team since.

He was the flag bearer at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, where he won bronze, and he was on track to win gold in Beijing before Japan’s Ayumu Hirano snatched the lead with an incredible final run.

As the next Games cycle started for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, James realised – at 31-years-old – he still had more to give.

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“There’s something about it that keeps drawing you back. 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 half pipe?,” he says.

“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.”

Given the length of his career, it’s astonishing James has managed to stay relevant, and competitive. Ten years since he won his first half pipe world championship gold 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,” 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 world no.4 in half-pipe ahead of the Olympics which begin on February 6. The one question that remains is whether he believes he is best-placed to win gold there.

“I think I’m just more grounded [than in previous years]. 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,” James says.

“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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