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01/17 15:44 CST James retains his Laax halfpipe title with eye on gold at Winter Olympics James retains his Laax halfpipe title with eye on gold at Winter Olympics LAAX, Switzerland (AP) --- Scotty James won his record-extending fifth Laax Open halfpipe title on Saturday with an eye-popping set of tricks that the Australian snowboarder hopes will finally let him win the Olympic gold medal next month. James, a four-time world champion who settled for Olympic silver at Beijing in 2022 and bronze four years before that, led a south Pacific podium sweep at Laax. New Zealand's Campbell Melville Ives took second with a pair of triple-flipping jumps in his second run and fellow Aussie Valentino Guseli was third. The 19-year-old Melville Ives was leading after he wowed the crowd in the Swiss Alps with a thrilling second run. But James, 31, overcame him on the last run that received a near-perfect score of 98.75 points, bettering Melville Ives' haul of 91. James said their duel and the big jumps performed by other riders in the Laax final bode well for the snowboarding at the Milan Cortina Games. The men's halfpipe in Livigno in the Italian Alps starts on Feb. 11. "I really think that we're probably going to be in for one of the most exciting and thrilling and competitive Olympics, maybe in history, amongst the whole field in the halfpipe," James said. "It's exciting for me, I hope it's exciting for everyone watching, and I can't wait to go to battle with everyone." Defending Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano withdrew after he suffered a hard crash on his first run. The Japanese rider's lower face was bloodied when he left the halfpipe course under his own power. Gaon Choi of South Korea won her third consecutive women's World Cup halfpipe title also on Saturday in Laax. Choi, 17, also won the season opener in Secret Garden in China and at Copper Mountain in December. Rise Kudo of Japan was second and Cai Xuetong of China was third in the Laax final, where two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim was absent due to a shoulder injury. Also at Laax on Saturday, two-time Olympic champion Eileen Gu successfully defended the women's freeski slopestyle title. ___ AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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