Kokomo Murase won Japan’s second gold of the Milan Cortina Olympics on Monday night in the women’s snowboarding big air competition. The 21-year-old scored 179.00 points at Livigno Snow Park to top the podium ahead of New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who picked up her fourth Olympic medal. It was Murase’s second. She won a big air bronze in Beijing four years ago, becoming the youngest female medalist in Japan’s Winter Olympic history. Despite that achievement, she wasn’t satisfied. “The bronze medal made me happy at first, but frustration grew stronger as time passed,” she said.
Her goal in Italy is to take home two golds. She will be looking to add to her tally in the women’s slopestyle competition next week. Before that, though, she deserves some time to reflect on her fantastic performance in the big air event. “The bronze medal felt heavy, but gold is different,” Murase said after her triumph. “It’s not just the weight, it feels like everything I’ve worked for up until now is packed into it. It’s incredibly heavy in that sense.”
In her first run, Murase executed a backside triple cork 1440 mute, scoring 89.75 to lead the field. South Korea’s Yu Seung-eun, 18, overtook her in the second round before Sadowski-Synnott, 24, landed a clean switch backside 1260 in the final round to top the leaderboard. In the penultimate run of the competition, Murase stomped a frontside triple cork 1440, scoring 89.25 to put her in the gold medal position. The victory was secured when Yu failed to land properly on her third run.
In January 2026, Murase became the first woman to land a 1620 in a contest
About Kokomo Murase
Born in Gifu city in 2004, Murase started snowboarding at the age of 4 despite hating the cold. She made history less than a decade later at the 2018 X Games in Oslo, becoming the youngest snowboarder to win at the event, breaking Chloe Kim’s record. The then 13-year-old took home the gold medal in the big air competition and also became the first female to land a backside double cork 1260. She had been ruled out of the Pyeongchang Olympics two months earlier due to age restrictions.
Murase has won multiple World Cups and last month became the first woman to land a backside triple cork 1620 in a competition. She also triumphed at last year’s FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in Switzerland, topping the podium ahead of compatriots Reira Iwabuchi and Mari Fukada. In fourth place was Momo Suzuki, another Japanese competitor. At the Livigno Snow Park on Monday, Suzuki finished sixth, Fukada ninth and Iwabuchi 11th. They will all be competing in next week’s slopestyle competition.
Takagi receiving a gold medal in Beijing 2022
Bronze Medals for Miho Takagi and Ren Nikaido
In women’s speed skating, Miho Takagi, Japan’s most decorated Winter Olympian, claimed her eighth medal in four Games. The 31-year-old finished third in the women’s 1,000 meters on Monday behind Dutch duo Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok. Four years ago, it was Takagi who topped the podium ahead of Leerdam. The legendary Japanese skater will also be competing in the 1,500 meters race and the team pursuit. She has been named as an alternate in the 500 meters, and has the right to compete if she chooses.
Another Japanese athlete who secured a bronze medal on Monday was ski jumper Ren Nikaido in the men’s normal hill competition. He shared the medal with Switzerland’s Gregor Deschwanden after both scored 266.0 points. Germany’s Philipp Raimund topped the podium with 274.1 points ahead of Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak who scored 270.7. Japan’s defending Olympic champion, Ryoyu Kobayashi, finished a disappointing eighth on 260.6 points. Naoki Nakamura, Japan’s other representative in the event, tied for 15th with 255 points.
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Updated On February 10, 2026
