Japanese snowboarder Kokomo Murase, 21, claimed gold in the women's big air event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, marking Japan's first Olympic gold in a women's snowboard competition. Overcoming pressures and injuries from her past, she executed a flawless triple cork 1440 in her final run to secure a comeback win from provisional third place.
Kokomo Murase delivered a stunning performance in the women's snowboard big air at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday, securing Japan's first gold medal in a women's snowboard event. In the competition, where athletes are scored on the combined points from their two best runs out of three, Murase started her final run in provisional third place. She executed a triple cork 1440—a maneuver involving three flips and four rotations—flawlessly to claim victory. Upon landing, she raised her right hand triumphantly before sitting down and clutching her head in overwhelming emotion, as fellow competitors rushed to congratulate her. “I’m so happy, it feels like I’m dreaming,” Murase said with a smile.
At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the then 17-year-old high school sophomore won bronze with a high-level trick, becoming the youngest Japanese woman to medal at the Winter Games. However, post-Beijing, she grappled with the intense pressure of her medalist status and feared disappointing supporters. This led to just one podium finish in four World Cup big air events during the 2022-23 season. In January 2023, she fractured her left ankle during a landing at the X Games, causing her to lose joy in the sport she loved and question her future amid peers charting clear paths.
Confined to her family home in Gifu for two months, Murase found solace in their encouragement: to pursue what she enjoys and that she could achieve anything she set her heart to. This period helped her rediscover her passion for snowboarding on her own terms. Entering the 2023-24 season renewed, she won two World Cup big air events and the X Games big air. In March of the previous year, she launched a YouTube channel sharing world championships, trick explanations, and daily life. On November 26, she posted a video of becoming the first female snowboarder to land a backside 1620—rising high and completing 4.5 horizontal rotations—earning global praise and astonishment. Now aiming to become “the face of snowboarding,” Murase eyes even greater heights. “My next goal is to win another gold,” she said, already focusing on the women’s slopestyle final scheduled for Tuesday.
