For Scotty James, Ayumu Hirano and the rest, it's time to throw down on the Olympic halfpipe

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LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Snowboarder Scotty James of Australia is nearing his chance to fill in the only missing piece over a spectacular career of halfpipe riding — the Olympic gold medal.

He'll have more than enough competition.

James, defending champion Ayumu Hirano and his Japanese teammates, including Yuto Totsuka, will be on the Olympic halfpipe Friday for what is widely hailed as the premier event in snowboarding.

Hirano won four years ago in Shaun White's going-away party in China (White finished fourth). But the Japanese champion is coming off a broken nose and other injuries after a scary fall in Switzerland last month. He says he's only at about 50%.

That could open a path for James, who finished second to Hirano at the 2022 Beijing Games and third to White and Hirano in their tense showdown four years before that at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The two keys to this contest:

— Triple corks. This was the trick that put Hirano over the top at Secret Garden four years ago. But in a sign of how quickly things progress in this sport, it is now viewed as the price of admission for the podium.

Anyone who lands more than one — New Zealand's Cam Melville Ives and 17-year-old American Alessandro Barbieri have done that — will be at the top of the conversation.

Also, can anyone add another half rotation and throw a triple-cork 1620? The snowboard world went crazy when South Korea's Chaeun Lee did that at a training session in 2024, but can someone bring it to a contest?

— Style. This is what James is known for and, potentially, what's been holding him back. He can execute insanely difficult jumps involving riding backward, spinning a bunch, and often starting the spin looking up the halfpipe, which takes his landing spot out of his vision.

It's as hard as it sounds, and his throwing of back-to-back backside 1440s at the X Games last month was a first-of-its-kind combination. But if he doesn't have triples to go with it, the judges might give him another consolation prize.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics