Scotty James’ viral Love Actually dance has cemented his omnipresence in Italy. Can he ride the wave to gold?

LIVIGNO: The minute anyone from another nation finds out you’re from Australia at Milano Cortina 2026, the topic shifts to Scotty James.

“Did you see the Love Actually dance?,” has been the most common talking point of the last few days. “That was soooooo good. He’s the best!”

The 31 year-old parlayed one of the most dominant seasons in snowboard halfpipe ever seen into a Netflix documentary, into an X-Games performance last month that cemented him as the heavy favourite to win a legacy-defining Winter Olympics gold medal in Livigno.

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He’s one of the biggest stars of a Games that doesn’t lack star power and the feeling in Italy is that this is his moment. In the last six months, his profile has grown from winter sports giant to almost bigger than the sport. Netflix and billionaire heiress wife aside, part of the mainstream appeal is the sense that he’s still the same old Scotty James who first broke through onto the world stage as a 14-year-old. The Love Actually dance was just the latest moment of childlike fun that oozes through on a near daily basis.

The viral social media videos aren’t just an authentic insight into his personality though, they’re building blocks that helped he and his brothers create ‘Scotty James Inc’.

At an event like this they might also be a handy pressure valve release.

Make no mistake, the halfpipe event that begins on Thursday morning (AEDT) is potentially the final opportunity for James to put himself in the top tier of Australian athletes from any era. Like it or not, an Olympic gold medal is a must for him to elevate himself into the company of Ian Thorpe, Cathy Freeman, Anna Meares and others of that sort of pedigree.

Scotty James discusses his Milano Cortina hopes at a press conference in Livigno. Getty

The complicating factor is that the men’s halfpipe field is deep. The talent on show has a scary array of generational snowboarders from Australia, Japan, China, Switzerland and the United States.

Unmistakably, though, James is now the top dog. You could even call him the king of the jungle but the animal kingdom metaphors only take you so far in a sport where every competitor seems like each other’s best mate.

Even in the heat of the most pressure packed competition in winter sports, the athletes are very supportive of each other.

They want to see the boundaries pushed even if it’s one of their rivals doing the pushing.

But to understand the hierarchy the snowboarders operate within, you only need to observe a brief interaction between them at the end of the first practice session in Livigno on Monday (AEDT).

At the conclusion of the three hour session, all of the athletes, both male and female, get together for a meeting where they scrutinise the halfpipe and provide feedback to the venue staff responsible for sculpting it.

Watch the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event live & on demand, every medal in 4K, and exclusive international coverage on Stan Sport.

Scotty James is captured mid-air during halfpipe practice at Livigno Snow Park ahead of competition at Milano Cortina 2026. Getty

“We just had the meeting then about the pipe and we were all like, ‘Scotty, what do you think?’,” James’ Australian teammate Emily Arthur tells Wide World of Sports and one other Australian reporter immediately after the athletes’ meeting disperses.

“On the whole community he has a very big presence and it’s great having him around.”

That’s confirmed by James’ 20-year-old teammate Valentino Guseli, with whom he shares a kind of brotherly bond.

“The feedback today was the right wall needs a little bit less vert, the left wall needs a little bit more vert,” Guseli adds.

“Scotty put that to him (the halfpipe sculptor), basically they started the course review and Scotty had already told him. Then everyone was like ‘what did Scotty say?’ And Scotty said what he said already and everyone agreed.”

That kind of respect is also shown to James in other little ways, like when he gets to the bottom of a practice run and heads towards the chairlift, which is taking all the athletes to the top of the pipe.

Wide World of Sports observed at least once when one of James’ rivals deferred to him, allowing him to jump on the lift first.

Scotty James rides the ski lift at halfpipe training in Livigno. Getty

“He’s the man,” Guseli confirms. “He’s the man, for sure. He’s pretty gangster.”

It’s a fascinating relationship for the 20-year-old to navigate when both have the talent to win the gold medal on their day.

While most of Australia is hoping James can follow the path of Jess Fox, who at Paris 2024 finally got the Olympic gold to match her dominance of the sport, and doubled her tally days later, Guseli is in a position where he could stop the perfect career arc from materialising.

It’s a jarring position for an Australian and a friend, so does he feel in any way conflicted?

“He’s a great person. Obviously in my position and in everyone else’s position you want to just win, you know. That’s what we’re here for, we’re here to go for gold,” Guseli counters.

“But as a person, he’s the man. As a snowboarder I respect him very much. And I think it’s more about us going and kicking everyone else’s arses and that’s a cool thing.”

If James and Guseli can both get on the podium it will be an extraordinary story of Australians beating the odds in as sport they have to leave their families at a young age to pursue.

Up until two years ago, Australia didn’t even have a full-size training halfpipe, much less a competition pipe.