Momoka Muraoka

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.