Japanese Snowboarder Murase Wins Gold at Milan-Cortina

Milan, Feb. 9 (Jiji Press)–Japanese snowboarder Kokomo Murase won the gold medal in the women’s big air event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Monday, becoming the first Japanese to earn women’s snowboarding gold. Murase’s feat came after Kira Kimura, also from Japan, won the men’s big air snowboarding gold at Milan-Cortina on Saturday. Murase won bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Elsewhere at the Milan-Cortina Games on Monday, Japan’s Ren Nikaido won the bronze medal in the individual normal hill event of the men’s ski jumping competition, while another Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi, a Beijing Olympics gold winner, finished eighth. Miho Takagi, a Japanese speed skater who won Olympic gold in Beijing 2022, clinched the bronze medal in the women’s 1,000 meters, standing on a podium for three consecutive Winter Games. It was her eighth Olympic medal, setting a new record for the most medals won by a Japanese Winter Games athlete. Japan’s medal count at Milan-Cortina has reached a total of seven. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]