Australian snowboarders Scotty James and Valentino Guseli will face off against American superstar Shaun White in the men's halfpipe finals on Friday.
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Mr James, 27, and Mr Guseli, who is just 16, were both in the top five in the men's halfpipe qualifiers in Zhangjiakou, China on Wednesday, February 9.
Young Guseli was fifth with 85.75 points, putting him just half a point behind Mr White, who scored 86.25 points in fourth place.
Meanwhile, Mr James scored an impressive 91.25 points to secure second behind Japan's Hirano Ayumu, who had a whopping 93.25 points.
Mr James said he has been inundated with supportive messages from around the world since he qualified for the finals on Wednesday.
"It's incredibly overwhelming, all the support that I'm getting from all of you, so I just want to say a big thank you. I can really feel all of you here with me," Mr James said on his Instagram Story.
"So ... we get ready for Friday morning and really looking forward to it, it's going to be a good challenge."
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Welsh actor Catherine Zeta-Jones was among those who threw their support behind Mr James.
"My friend Scotty James starts his Olympic journey. Go Scotty!" she wrote on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Mr Guseli posted a video of himself snowboarding to TikTok on Thursday to celebrate his qualification.
"Very happy to put a run down in qualis. Finals tomorrow. Let's send it," he captioned the post.
But Mr James and Mr Guseli will both have their work cutout on Friday against four Japanese boarders, three Americans, two Swiss and one German.
Shaun White's Final Final
Three-time gold medalist Shaun White will be looking for a fourth medal in the last Olympic Final before he retires from his snowboarding career.
"Wow! So happy to make it through into finals! This being the last Olympic qualifying event of my career, I definitely felt the pressure. So pumped I pulled that last run off. See you in finals," Mr White wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.
The men's snowboard halfpipe final will begin its first run at 12:30pm AEDT on Friday, followed by the second run at 12:58pm and the third run at 1:25pm.
Who qualified?
Here are the 12 qualifiers for the men's halfpipe final and their best score of two runs, in the final they'll have three.
- Hirano Ayumu (JPN) 93.25
- Scotty James (AUS) 91.25
- Hirano Ruka (JPN) 87.00
- Shaun White (USA) 86.25
- Valentino Guseli (AUS) 85.75
- Totsuka Yuto (JPN) 84.50
- Taylor Gold (USA) 83.50
- Jan Scherrer (SUI) 79.25
- Hirano Kaishu (JPN) 77.25
- Andre Hoeflich (GER) 75.00
- Patrick Burgener (SUI) 73.00
- Chase Josey (USA) 69.50
Shivé Prema
I am a video journalist and host of the Newcastle Herald TikTok account! I spend most of my days filming and editing videos but also like to write articles as well. I'm new to Newcastle, so I like to spend my spare time exploring this city and its many beaches.
I am a video journalist and host of the Newcastle Herald TikTok account! I spend most of my days filming and editing videos but also like to write articles as well. I'm new to Newcastle, so I like to spend my spare time exploring this city and its many beaches.
