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Posted: 2019-02-09 01:04:39

Updated February 09, 2019 15:04:29

Australian snowboarding ace Scotty James has taken out an unprecedented third consecutive halfpipe world title in Utah.

  • Australian snowboarder Scotty James has made history as the first man to win three consecutive halfpipe world titles
  • His win, at Park City, Utah, follows victories in the previous world championships in 2015 and 2017
  • James, who won bronze at last year's Winter Olympics, is unbeaten this season, including a win at the X Games in January

A year to the day since James led the Australian team into the PyeongChang Winter Olympics opening ceremony, the Victorian blew his competition away with an unbeatable early run at Park City.

After winning gold in 2015 and 2017, the win cements James as the only man to claim three world championships in the event.

During his first run, the PyeongChang bronze medallist scored a whopping 94.25, which remained unobtainable for his rivals throughout the finals.

Not content however, the triple Olympian went one better and put down a jaw-dropping 97.50 on run three.

Japan's Yuto Totsuka claimed silver with 92.25 and Patrick Burgener from Switzerland took the bronze with 91.25.

The 24-year-old said winning his third title was surreal.

"I was pinching myself when I won my second world title and I'm triple pinching myself now that I've won my third one; it's absolutely amazing," he said.

"The level of riding was incredible. I was on my toes, I knew those last two guys behind me had a lot in them to pull it together so I just wanted to land that run and do it the way I wanted to, so I'm over the moon."

Fellow Aussie and dual-Olympian Kent Callister finished fifth with a score of 79.00.

The win continues an incredible unbeaten season for James, which includes a gold medal at the X Games and championships across Europe and North America.

AAP

Topics: sport, winter-sports, snow-boarding, united-states, australia

First posted February 09, 2019 12:04:39

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