Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE starting June 12 2026

Aussie snowboarders slide out of Olympics

Australians Ben Mates and Scott James - performing with a broken wrist - have finished 17th and 21st in the men's snowboard halfpipe at the Winter Olympics.

snowboard_benmates_100218_ap_aap_B_677236720

Australians Ben Mates and Scott James - performing with a broken wrist - have finished 17th and 21st in the men's snowboard halfpipe at the Winter Olympics.

Mates scraped into the semi-final in the last qualifying position to earn another two runs but found the competition too hot, finishing 11th of the 12 riders.

Six riders from the semi-finals went through to the final, joining six others who qualified directly from the initial heats including American gold medal favourite Shaun White.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

James, at 15 Australia's youngest ever male Winter Olympian, was impressive in his second run (28.2 points) after a fall in the first but in a stacked heat couldn't progress any further.

"I didn't actually get to do what I wanted to do today just because the other day I had a little bit of a crash," said James, whose right wrist was in a cast because of an accident in training on Monday.

"I'm a little bit upset that I didn't get to do what I wanted to do but I'm still happy."

James said the injury felt better on Wednesday.

James 'held back' by injury

"It's not so bad today I had some painkillers. Yesterday it was killing me in training but I've got plaster on it now and it's not too bad."

He admitted the combination of crashing in the first run and his injury had held him back a little.

"I was just a bit cautious of what I was doing and definitely after a crash you are a little bit scared to keep going but I still landed a run."

Mates said he was happy with his performance after bombing out in both his runs in Turin four years ago.

"If I had some bigger tricks the result could have been a lot better," he said.

"The run was probably pretty close to my best, it probably could have been a lot cleaner and a little bit bigger but I'm stoked how I rode today compared to how I rode in Turin.

"So I've come a long way in four years, especially as I backed myself and paid and funded everything on my own.

"It has been a lot of hard work but I got there in the end."


3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: SBS, AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world