At Vancouver in 2010, White scored 46.8 points on his first run, which was all he needed to win gold. He knows he’ll have to be at the top of his game to take the Olympic gold medal from White, the 27-year-old red-headed American who has dominated the sport. Rested and recovered after the holidays, Johnstone will travel back to Colorado for next week’s freestyle World Cup at Breckenridge, where he expects to confirm his spot on the Australian Olympic team - to be announced later this month. “On the positive side, I was able to get a lot of good training in.” “It was only minor, but it set me back a bit,” Johnstone said. It’s a common one affecting snowboarders - bruised heels from landing so hard on the back of their feet. 9 in Sochi - had a minor injury scare that prevented him from competing in December’s freestyle Dew Tour in Colorado. “He is incredibly strong, yet smooth and stylish,” he added, “which is unique.” “He was very determined to make up for his missed opportunity in 2010,” said Alexander, adding that Johnstone took inspiration from two Australian surfers - Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson - who recovered from serious injuries to become world champions.
Johnstone’s coach, Ben Alexander, says his athlete - quite the surfer, as well - has been working hard ahead of the Olympics in Sochi, where another Australian, Torah Bright, will be defending her gold medal in the women’s halfpipe. “They had minimal snow when I was there and it was super warm, which made trying to hold speed in the pipe - as well as spinning the tricks around quickly - quite a challenge.” “I learned that the weather can be very unpredictable,” Johnstone said. Johnstone was in Sochi last February and finished eighth in a test event at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park’s halfpipe. “Hopefully I’ll stay fit and healthy for Russia and get a good result there.” “I had a great 2011 season and I’m still continuing that roll,” Johnstone said. White did not compete in the finals that year. Just 12 months later, Johnstone won the 2011 FIS World Cup Crystal Globe for leading the halfpipe season standings and the overall freestyle Crystal Globe. “It was a big disappointment for me back then, but I learned a lot from it and it gave me a lot of motivation and drive for the following season,” he said. That curve was derailed just four weeks before the Vancouver Olympics when Johnstone broke his ankle in an air bag training session.
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