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INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
Momoka Muraoka

Momoka Muraoka

Japanese flag
Japan
Alpine Skiing
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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
LW10-2

Further personal information

Occupation
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 skiing at age nine at primary school, and began to pursue Para alpine skiing in 2011 in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Why this sport?
She initially competed in Para athletics but gradually became discouraged by her results. She was inspired to switch to Para alpine skiing after watching the sport.
Club / Team
Waseda University: Tokyo, JPN
Name of coach
Kazushi Shido [personal], JPN, from 2013

General interest

Nicknames
Momo (Athlete, 26 Feb 2014)
Hobbies
Reading. (1242.com, 26 May 2017)
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)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"Smile, smile and smile." (Athlete, 26 Feb 2014)
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 athletics at national level in Japan. (ninomiyasports.com, 24 Jun 2014)
Ambitions
To compete at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. (tokyo-np.co.jp, 29 Jun 2018)
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)

Results

Unit Date Rank
Paralympic Winter Games 2014 (Sochi, Russia)
Event Medal 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 Medal 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 Medal 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 Medal 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 Medal 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

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