Scotty James Talks Fatherhood, Gold Medal Aspirations in Esquire Australia Feature

Originally posted on SNOWBOARDER | By Josh Sullivan | Last updated Aug 8, 2025 12:19 PM ET

Clad in Tommy Hillfiger, Scotty James got real about the one prize he has yet to claim: a Winter Olympics gold medal, and the three people most likely to get in his way of claiming that in 2026.

They are Ayumu Hirano, Ruka Hirano and Yuto Totsuka, according to James.

“If you want to see me competitive, watch me in a room when those three are in my vicinity; that’s when you’ll see me competitive,” James told Ben Jhoty for Esquire Australia. “Being in a halfpipe final, under the lights, it definitely makes me want to shut the door and let them know that I’m going to win. That’s the opportunity. You don’t say it, you just do it.”

James was featured on the cover of Esquire for the Australian version of the magazine. The interview was published on August 5, 2025 as a part of Hillfiger’s newest Father’s Day campaign, which in Australia is September 7. It’s a fitting partnership, seeing as James became a father just 9 months earlier. His wife Chloe Stroll gave birth to their son Leo last October.

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As he prepares for the 2026 Winter Olympics, he’ll have to balance training and fatherhood. In his interview with Jhoty, he said that co-parenting Leo has forced him to pull away from the halfpipe when he’s not on snow, and remain present.

James talked about battling the overwhelming pressure that came with making his Olympics debut at just 15 years old. Internal pressure, coupled with financial pressure, were a lot to handle.

“When you watch on TV you go, Wow, how incredible. It was incredible. But at the time I didn’t love snowboarding,” he told Jhoty. “I was struggling with it a lot. I was just very insecure and not where I probably should have been professionally.”

While James has remained one of the best snowboarders to drop into the halfpipe in the last 15 years, he has been somewhat overshadowed during the Olympics thanks to big names like Hirano and Shaun White.

That will almost certainly change in Italy. This past January, James won his sixth X Games Superpipe gold, good enough for his ninth medal all-time. In March, he won the FIS Crystal Globe alongside Chloe Kim.

A 90-minute feature documentary might also help introduce James to the rest of the world who only checks out snowboarding during the Olympic years. It will be titled Pipe Dream, and features footage from home videos filmed by the James family. The documentary will look at James’ life both on and off snow, and feature interviews with Daniel Ricardo, Torah Bright, and Kim.

James is the second snowboarder to appear in Esquire this summer. Zeb Powell revealed some of his off snow fits in an interview with Christopher Fenimore published on May 2, 2025. Jordan IV’s, jackets from Nigel Sylvester’s Nike collection, and white camp collar shirts: we got to see a different side of Zeb. It was also our first look at what’s in his closet after officially signing with Jordan brand.

This article first appeared on SNOWBOARDER and was syndicated with permission.

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