Japan's Mari Fukada won gold in the women's snowboard slopestyle event at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics on Wednesday. This marks Japan's fifth gold medal of the Games, matching the country's best Winter Olympics result from the 1998 Nagano Games. New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the 2022 champion, took silver, while Fukada's compatriot Kokomo Murase earned bronze.
At the Milano Cortina Olympics, Japan's snowboarding team demonstrated its strength once again. Mari Fukada's gold in the women's slopestyle event represents the fourth such medal for the team in these Games. Her compatriot Kokomo Murase, who won gold in big air on February 9, led the standings after the first run in the Alpine town of Livigno, Italy, before securing bronze.
This achievement brings Japan's total gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics to five, equaling the nation's record set at the 1998 Nagano Games. The success underscores the prowess of Team Japan's snowboarding contingent. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand, the defending champion from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, claimed silver with a strong performance. Murase's bronze adds to the depth of Japan's snowboarding efforts in the competition.
