Who is Kokomo Murase? Meet the 21-year-old world champion snowboarder who won gold for Japan in women’s big air in Milan

Kokomo Murase stood at the top of the ramp knowing she had one more chance. Four years after leaving the Olympics with bronze and mixed emotions, she finally got the moment she had been chasing! On Monday night at the Livigno Snow Park, the 21-year-old delivered a gold medal performance in the women’s snowboarding big air final at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Murase finished with 179.00 points to give Japan its second gold of the Games. She edged New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott, who added a fourth Olympic medal to her collection. For Murase, this win felt different. In Beijing, she became the youngest female medalist in Japan’s Winter Olympic history with bronze.

Kokomo Murase's career rise and historic wins

Kokomo Murase was born in Gifu in 2004 and began snowboarding at just four years old, even though she disliked the cold.

At 13, she became the youngest snowboarder to win gold at the X Games in Oslo and the first woman to land a backside double cork 1260. She missed the Pyeongchang Olympics due to age restrictions but continued building her career through World Cup wins and a world title in Switzerland last year. In January 2026, she made more history by becoming the first woman to land a backside triple cork 1620 in competition.On February 9, Murase started strong with a backside triple cork 1440 mute that scored 89.75 and put her in front early.

The pressure built as the final unfolded. South Korea’s Yu Seung eun briefly moved ahead in the second round. Then Sadowski Synnott landed a clean switch backside 1260 in the final round to grab the lead. Murase still had one jump left. In the second-to-last run of the competition, she stomped a frontside triple cork 1440 and earned 89.25 points.

That score pushed her back into first place. When Yu failed to land her final attempt, Murase’s gold was confirmed.She later explained how much heavier this medal felt compared to the one she won in Beijing. “The bronze medal felt heavy, but gold is different,” Murase said after her big win. “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.”Murase will now compete in slopestyle next week as she aims for a second gold in Milan.