Hoengseong, Korea, January 28, 2024: Snowboarder Yura Murase was the pride of Japan on Sunday when she won the first gold medal of the Winter Youth Olympic Games for the proud winter sports country.
Murase, 16, conquered the Hoengseong Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort to take gold in the women’s snowboard big air with a score of 154.25 for her two best runs of 79.50 and 74.75. Both scores were the highest of the second and third runs, respectively, after the Japanese girl had opened with a 66.0, putting her in eighth place.
Rebecca Flynn of the United States won the silver medal with a score of 153.0 (78 on her first run and 75 on her second), and Lucia Georgalli of New Zealand took the bronze with 152.0 (79.25 on her first run and 72.75 on her third and final attempt).
The second Japanese boarder, Kiara Morii, just missed the podium and finished fourth on 151.25 points.
Gold medal-winner Murase is the younger sister of Kokomo Murase, who won the bronze medal in snowboard big air at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
Kokomo played a big part in Yura’s victory on Sunday, even though she is competing in the X Games at Aspen, Colorado.
Yura said: “After the big air qualification yesterday (Saturday), I sent a video of my performance to Kokomo. She gave me some advice on how I could improve for today – and it worked. We are always talking about our competitions and sharing videos.
“It’s a great feeling to win the first gold medal for Japan at these Winter Youth Olympic Games. I was disappointed to finish fifth in the slopestyle earlier in the week so I was determined to do better in big air.”
Yura turns 17 on February 1 – the day of the closing ceremony – but she will miss the occasion as she returns home to Japan on Monday.
The Japanese delegation on hand to witness the team’s first gold medal of the Winter YOG Gangwon 2024 was Chef de Mission Masahiko Harada, the famous ski jumper who won a gold, silver and bronze medal for Japan during his illustrious Winter Olympics career.
Now 55, Harada said: “It’s a wonderful feeling to be here and to cheer our first gold medal of the Games. I would like to congratulate Yura Murase on her success and I hope she can go on to enjoy more gold medals in the Winter Olympics.”
