James' four World Championship gold medals make him the most successful snowboard halfpipe rider in history. Additionally, he has the highest number of World Championship wins among Australian winter sports athletes.
In the best of two-run final in blizzard conditions, James opened with a score 89.50 for the highest scoring run of the round, leading Japanese riders Yuto Totsuka on 88.75 in second place and Ruka Hirano third on 88.50.
In the final run, James performed the same tricks but improved his execution and landings to score a huge 95 points.
His run including a switch McTwist Japan grab, cab double cork 1080 with grab, frontside double cork 1260 with grab, backside double cork 1080 with grab and switch backside double cork 1260 with grab.
Photo: James on the podium after winning his fourth World Championship title (OWIA: Chris Hocking)
“Coming out this week was such a challenge, with the weather and to ride at this level is already so high, and I definitely was sitting there feeling ok when Ruka and Yuto were dropping, they have been riding incredibly well all season and I have had some great battles with them” said James.
“Halfpipe is a scary sport, and it gets even scary when conditions are tough, I'm really pumped and felt like I had to be resilient today, so I’m stoked.”
“Honestly, I didn't really know what conditions to expect, I knew that it was going to be slow and the pipe was full of snow, and maybe runs might be toned down a bit, but then again once the good slip of the pipe gets through and you get a bit of momentum, you can usually get some better runs going.
“The 2023 World Championships was not a good day for me, I was pretty disappointed with my outcome and I wanted to make a statement for myself personally, that I wanted to come back and finish at the top, to have won four world titles again I'm pinching myself.”
On the final day of competition, VIS aerialists Laura Peel, Danielle Scott and Airleigh Frigo competed in the best of two jump opening round of finals.
Scott landed two great jumps to advance to the top-six super final in second place from her best score of 98.34 for her double full-full triple twisting double somersault.
Current World Cup Champion and two-time World Champion Laura Peel was very unlucky to miss out on the super final in seventh place, after touching a hand on landing on both her triple somersault jumps, Airliegh Frigo, was behind Peel in eighth, landing both jumps with a best score of 79.06 on her full-full.
In the super final, Scott again put down another great score on her double full-full triple twisting double somersault, scoring 96.93 points to finish in third place and fourth career World Championship medal.
Finishing ahead of Scott was American Kaila Kuhn who claimed the first victory of her career scoring 105.13 with Mengtao Xu of China in second on 99.16.
Photo: Danielle Scott wins bronze in the women's individual aerial skiing at the 2025 FIS Freestyle World Championships
“So happy, I literally did everything I could, every jump today was on the money,” said Scott.
“Not doing triple somersaults, I was really focused on myself and maximising those points and it did pay off, so I am really excited for what’s ahead now."
“It’s been a bit funny here with the weather, we have had everything, flat light, snow, head and tail winds, and then the wind came in right on our last training jump, but the coaching team handled it well. This season has been a special one, the team around us has really bonded and that strength is showing, there is a lot of confidence in that and for me it’s about getting the speeds right, so thanks to the team."
“Bring it on, I am so excited for the next 12 months, it’s been a bit of a rough run for me, I did barely any training heading into this season, due to a couple of personal reasons, but my Dad’s fighting, he’s doing well now, I dedicate this medal to him."
