Japanese snowboarder Kokomo Murase won Olympic gold in women's big air at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday, two days after her teammates swept the top two medals in the men's event. She secured at least a bronze before nailing her final jump to claim the top spot. This adds to her bronze from the same event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The women's big air snowboarding final at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics took place in Livigno, Italy, on Monday night, where 18-year-old Kokomo Murase of Japan claimed gold. Having already secured at least a bronze, Murase went all out on her final jump and landed it perfectly to take the lead. This victory builds on her bronze medal in the same event from the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott earned silver, repeating her medal from the previous Olympics. She was on the verge of gold until Murase's strong penultimate jump. South Korea's 18-year-old Yu Seung-eun took bronze.
On Saturday, Japanese teammates Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata won gold and silver, respectively, in the men's big air, highlighting the team's prowess. Japan placed four riders in the 12-person finals for both men's and women's events, more than any other nation, showcasing their depth of talent.
The top three performers all executed highly difficult jumps with 1440 degrees of rotation, including three flips and a spin. Two-time defending champion Anna Gasser of Austria finished eighth, falling short of becoming the first snowboarder to win three straight Olympic golds after a fall on her first jump and a landing error on her second.
Sadowski-Synnott received a traditional haka tribute from her New Zealand teammates after the ceremony, marking her third Olympic big air medal following bronze at age 16 in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Japan could earn more snowboarding medals, with Murase competing in slopestyle and Ayumu Hirano defending his halfpipe gold.
