Milan, Italy, February 9, 2026: Japan’s Kokomo Murase landed three exceptional runs to win the women’s snowboard Big Air gold medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno on Monday, February 9.
In her third and final run, Murase stomped a frontside triple cork 1440, stepping things up from her frontside triple cork 1260 from run two and earning a score of 89.25 in the process.
Added to her first run score of 89.75 for her backside triple cork 1440 mute, Murase’s two-run score of 179.0 points would give her the gold medal and a significant upgrade on her bronze medal from Beijing 2022.
Murase’s victory extended Japan’s domination of the Big Air events, after Kimura Kira and Kimata Ryoma had a historic 1-2 finish in the men’s competition on Saturday evening.
“It's a gold medal that brings me immense joy. The moment when winning Olympic gold, something I've long aspired to, became a reality,” Murase, 21, said.
Yu Seungeun (KOR), a veteran of just five World Cup competitions and only 18 years old, shocked the field with a bronze medal performance, stomping a backside triple cork 1440 mute and a frontside triple cork 1440 frontside grab to lead proceedings going into the final run, before ending up with bronze on 171.0 points on her Olympic debut.
Yu had been really nervous and described landing the front 1440 for the first time as “really amazing.”
"I was injured for a year, so I wasn't able to do a lot of things,” she said. “But it gave me the courage to say, 'I can do it next time'. I'm very proud of myself right now."
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott took the silver medal with a score of 172.25.
*In other news, Japan added two more bronze medals on Monday, taking their medal tally to seven after three days of competition with two gold, two silver and three bronze.
The bronze medals on Monday were earned by Ren Nikaido in the men’s ski jump normal hill and by Miho Takagi in the women’s speed skating 1,000 metres. It was the eighth medal in four Olympic appearances for 31-year-old Takagi – a tally that includes two gold.
