U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim and Australia’s Scotty James triumphed over snowy conditions in Engadin to win halfpipe gold on Saturday, with James winning a record fourth title as Kim claimed her third.
Kim was the first to add another World Championships gold medal to her long list of accolades after scoring 93.50 in her first run on Saturday during the women’s final at the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland.
Fifteen-year-old Sara Shimizu (JPN) claimed silver with 90.75, while fellow Japanese rider Mitsuki Ono took bronze with 88.50.
Kim’s winning run featured a switch frontside double cork 1080 stalefish, a frontside 900 tailgrab, a backside 900 Weddle, a frontside 720 frontside grab, and finally a switch frontside 1080 stalefish to finish things off with an exclamation point.
With her first run ensuring her gold, Kim was under no obligation to push the boundaries in her second run victory lap, but she did it anyway. Upping the ante with a frontside 1080 and an attempt at a switch frontside 1260 on her final two hits, Kim looked set to beat her first run score before going down on the final hit 1260.
Still, with the first ever attempted 1260 by a woman in competition history, 24-year-old Kim showed she remains the key driving force for progression in women’s halfpipe snowboarding.
“My favourite part about a victory lap is trying to progress the sport and trying to do the craziest run I’ve ever done,” Kim said.
“I was really hoping to put that down here, but next time.”
Kim admitted Saturday’s weather conditions – which forced organizers to delay the women’s final by two hours – and her fall during training had affected her confidence going into the final.
“Today was definitely a big mental battle for all the ladies, so first of all congratulations to everyone that even made it out here and fought through to get through,” Kim said.
“I definitely had a couple of mental breakdowns during practice, so I’m just really happy I was able to land something.”
The victory on Saturday marks the third time Kim has won a World Championships title. She first won gold as a 19-year-old in 2019, and then made it back-to-back titles with her 2021 victory. Kim did not compete in the 2023 edition of the World Championships.
Kim’s gold medal-winning performance on Saturday also caps off a season in which she claimed two World Cup victories and fourth place out of three starts, as well as 2025 X Games gold in January.
“I’ve really started to find the joy for the sport again, and I think that’s been a really big change for me, a positive change,” the 24-year-old said.
“Every day I’m out here I’m so excited to see what I can do that day and push myself as much as possible.”
In the men’s final, Australian Scotty James claimed gold with a second run score of 95.00. Similar to the women’s final, Japanese riders also finished second and third, with Ruka Hirano taking silver behind James on 92.25, followed by Yuto Totsuka on 92.00.
James was already in pole position after his first run earned him 89.50 from the judges, which he followed up with a second run featuring a switch McTwist Japan, a switch frontside double cork 1080 Weddle, a frontside double cork 1260 stalefish, a backside double cork 1080 stalefish, then a switch backside double cork 1260 Weddle.
As the third-last rider of the day, James had to watch Hirano and Totsuka complete their runs before the Australian was sure his second run score of 95.00 was enough to take the win.
“I definitely wasn’t sitting there feeling OK when Ruka and Yuto dropped in. They’ve been riding incredibly well all season, I’ve had some great battles with them,” James said.
“I have so much respect for all the riders in the field today. It was really challenging. Halfpipe’s a scary sport, and it gets even scarier when conditions are tough. It was really, really tough and you had to be resilient today, so I’m stoked.”
Engadin 2025 marks James’ ninth World Championships start, and the fourth time he won gold after he won three back-to-back titles in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
James said his win on Saturday felt like redemption after he finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia.
“Last world Champs was not a good day for me, I was pretty disappointed with my outcome, and I wanted to make a bit of a statement (today) for myself personally,” James said.
“I wanted to come back and finish it on top. To have won four World titles, I’m pinching myself. It’s amazing.”
While Japanese riders missed out on halfpipe gold on Saturday, a total of four Japanese snowboarders claimed a podium finish out of six available spots.
In the big air finals on Friday night, Japanese riders won five out of six big air medals, including women’s gold for Kokomo Murase and men’s gold for Ryoma Kimata.
