Momoka Muraoka

Alpine Skiing

Muraoka is Japan’s top female sit-skier, with multiple Asia Cup podiums across speed and technical events from the last three seasons.

In 2015, she made her mark on the international scene with her first World Championships podiums alongside the likes of multiple Paralympic and Worlds medallists, Austria’s Claudia Loesch and Germany’s Anna Schaffelhuber.

Diagnosed with transverse myelitis at the age of four, Muraoka has also showed her prowess on the World Cup circuit with a handful of top three finishes as she continues to improve season-on-season.

The teenager was a T54 para-athlete with several podium finishes from national Championships until she decided to swap her racing wheelchair for a sit-ski during 2012-13.

However Muraoka has not entirely turned her back on her track career, stating that she aims to win a medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games and go on to represent her country at Tokyo 2020.

Her quest for PyeongChang 2018 gained momentum in 2015-16 when she won the women's giant slalom sitting World Cup globe, as well as finishing second in super-G. Muraoka finished third in the overall women's sitting World Cup.

Her recent performances have placed her in a great position to win her first world titles when she skis at the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy.

Biography

Impairment information

Type of Impairment

Spinal Cord Injuries

Origin of Impairment

Acquired

Classification

T54

Further personal information

Occupation

Athlete, Office Worker, Student

Languages

Japanese

Higher education

Sports Science - Waseda University: Tokyo, JPN

Sport specific information

When and where did you begin this sport?

She took up the sport competitively in 2019.

Why this sport?

"I wanted to become faster and stronger after the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. I thought that of course I would be able to do that, but to be honest I didn't know what to do. In the 2018/19 seasons, it was a little bit rough for me to ski. At that time, I began thinking about Para athletics. I thought that it would be a right time to take up the sport a bit more seriously as there were no [skiing] world championships and Paralympic Winter Games between 2019 and 2020. When I asked for advice, I was told that I needed to spend that time on Para alpine skiing more. However, I became aware of myself as an athlete after devoting to Para athletics for one year. Although it became difficult to adjust the schedule [due to the postponement of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo], I would like to do my best so that I can participate in the 2020 and 2022 Paralympics."

Club / Team

Toyota : Japan

Name of coach

Hitoshi Matsunaga [personal], JPN

General interest

Nicknames

Momochi, Momo-chan (parasapo.tokyo, 21 Aug 2020)

Most influential person in career

Japanese Para alpine skiers Taiki Morii and Hiroshi Nojima. (Athlete, 10 Mar 2018)

Hero / Idol

Japanese Para alpine skier Taiki Morii. (Athlete, 10 Mar 2018)

Awards and honours

In 2018 she was presented with the Tokyo-to Honorary Award and the Tokyo-to Citizen Sports Grand Award in Japan. (sports-tokyo.info, 01 Jun 2018)

In 2018 she received the Fukaya Citizen Honorary Award in Japan. (tokyo-np.co.jp, 29 Jun 2018)

She was Japan's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (paralympic.org, 27 Feb 2018)

Other sports

She has competed in Para alpine skiing at international level. She represented Japan at the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, and won five medals including gold in the sitting giant slalom at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (sportrait-web.com, 29 Jan 2020; sports.nhk.or.jp, 22 Aug 2019; paralympic.org, 2021)

Ambitions

To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. (SPORTS BIZ Official YouTube Channel, 17 Jun 2020; sports.nhk.or.jp, 14 Apr 2021)

Impairment

She was diagnosed with transverse myelitis at age four. The condition causes inflammation of the spinal cord. (Athlete, 26 Feb 2014; paraphoto.org, 26 Jan 2014)

Other information

EYES ON TOKYO
She says she was particularly motivated to compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in order to show her performance in front of home fans including her family and friends. "When I participated in the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, which is a neighbouring country, I had never seen those many Japanese fans during my sporting career. It made me touched as much as the moment I won the Paralympic medals. Therefore, it became one of my motivations to compete at a home Games where I can show my performance to many people in Japan." (SPORTS BIZ Official YouTube Channel, 17 Jun 2020)

FURTHER EDUCATION
She has studied for a master's degree at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. (nikkansports.com, 14 Jun 2020)

Results

		Unit	Date	Rank

Paralympic Winter Games 2014 (Sochi, Russia)
Event	Unit	Date	Rank
Women's Super-G Sitting	Final Round	2014-03-10	9999
Women's Slalom Sitting	Final Round	2014-03-12	9
Women's Giant Slalom Sitting	Final Round	2014-03-16	5

2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships Panorama (Panorama, Canada)
Event	Unit	Date	Rank
Women's Downhill Sitting	Race 1	2015-03-04	2
Women's Super-G Sitting	Race 1	2015-03-05	9999
Women's Super-Combined Sitting	Race 1	2015-03-07	4
Women's Giant Slalom Sitting	Race 1	2015-03-08	3
Women's Slalom Sitting	Race 1	2015-03-10	4

2017 IPC Alpine skiing World Championships Tarvisio, ITA (Tarvisio, Italy)
Event	Unit	Date	Rank
Women's Downhill Sitting	Race 1	2017-01-25	3
Women's Super-G Sitting	Race 1	2017-01-26	3
Women's Super-Combined Sitting	Race 1	2017-01-28	4
Women's Giant Slalom Sitting	Race 1	2017-01-30	3
Women's Slalom Sitting	Race 1	2017-01-31	4

Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games (Pyeongchang, South Korea)
Event	Unit	Date	Rank
Women's Downhill Sitting	Final	2018-03-10	2
Women's Super-G Sitting	Final	2018-03-11	3
Women's Super Combined Sitting	Final	2018-03-13	3
Women's Giant Slalom Sitting	Final	2018-03-14	1
Women's Slalom Sitting	Final	2018-03-18	2

Kranjska Gora/Sella Nevea 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships (Kranjska Gora/Sella Nevea, Slovenia)
Event	Unit	Date	Rank
Women's Giant Slalom Sitting	Race 1	2019-01-22	1
Women's Slalom Sitting	Race 1	2019-01-24	3
Women's Downhill Sitting	Race 1	2019-01-30	3
Women's Super-Combined Sitting	Race 1	2019-01-31	1
Women's Super-G Sitting	Race 1 (from SC)	2019-01-31	2

Momoka Muraoka