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Australian Scotty James wins snowboard gold in Spain

A Winter Olympics gold medal remains the only serious unclaimed prize left for Australian snowboarder Scotty James, who defended his halfpipe world championship in Spain on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

On a night when competitors struggled with the frontside wall of the pipe, James stayed buttery smooth, laying down what appeared to be a winning first run to capture the title.

No one would surpass that total - except James himself with his second run of 97.5 points - his highest score of the season.

"My goal is to land my first run so then I can really just step it up," said James, who got to treat his third trip down the pipe as a victory lap.

Switzerland's Iouri Podlatchikov (93.25) was second with his teammate Patrick Burgener (90.5) third.

The victory made it back-to-back world titles for 22-year-old James in a breakout season that's included an X Games victory, a Winter Olympics test event win in South Korea and an overall World Cup crown.

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Most importantly he has consistently beaten the top riders in the world.

In a sport that's sometimes difficult to get a read on because the best competitors aren't always at the same events, James has regularly defeated all comers.

That includes two-time Olympic gold medal winner American Shaun White - the man widely regarded as the sport's greatest - and defending Games champion Podlatchikov.

White was not in Sierra Nevada on Saturday, calling time on his season after beating James to claim the US Open title.

But it was a points victory for the Australian over snowboarding's $53 million man during this northern hemisphere winter, as James finished ahead of White in three of the five events where they both competed.

Not that James says he's targeting a performance against the 13-time X Games gold medallist.

"I've had so many great battles with Shaun but I don't tend to think about other competitors - I just go out there and do what I have to to do," he said.

James's tricks, which include a backside 12 (three and a half rotations with a grab) are consistently performed with better style and amplitude (air) than his competitors.

He'll head into the next World Cup season as the man to beat again and will eye off becoming the first Australian man to win a halfpipe medal at a Winter Olympics, at the Pyeongchang 2018 Games.

"There's a lot of work to do between now and the Games but I'll take it day by day and keep working really hard and try to learn some new things and make sure my off-season is as good as it can be," he said.

AAP