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Japan's Totsuka wins Olympic halfpipe thriller as James misses out on gold / Photo: © AFP
Japan's Totsuka wins Olympic halfpipe thriller as James misses out on gold
Japanese snowboarder Yuto Totsuka won a gripping men's halfpipe final on Friday, shattering Australian snowboard veteran Scotty James's dreams of an elusive gold medal in his fifth Winter Games.
Totsuka, the 2021 world champion, scored a whopping 95.00 points in his second run of three at Livigno Snow Park to lay down a daunting marker.
James, who had fluffed his first run, was next to go and punched the air with his trademark red gloves but his score of 93.50 was only enough to lift him into the silver position.
Totsuka, 24, crashed on his final run, meaning it was do or die for James in the last run of the competition.
The Australian adjusted his helmet and goggles before setting off but he fell at the end of his run.
Japan's Ryusei Yamada (92.00) took bronze while his compatriot and defending champion Ayumu Hirano finished well outside the medals.
Australia's James, 31, who has been a dominant force in the sport over the past decade, made his Olympic debut as a 15-year-old at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
He took bronze at Pyeongchang 2018 and silver in Beijing four years ago and was desperate to go one better at the Milan-Cortina Games.
In the halfpipe, competitors perform a series of tricks while snowboarding down a slope with a semi-cylindrical shape -- the inner height of the walls in Livigno is 7.2 metres.
Snowboarders are scored on the breadth and difficulty of the jumps and only the best run of three counts.
M.Stefanski--GL
