Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games Mar 5, 2022
On March 5, Ms. Momoka Muraoka (Doctoral Program, School of Sports Sciences, former member of the ski team) participated in the Para Alpine Ski Women’s Downhill Sitting event on the second day of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, and came in first place at 1 minute 29.77 seconds. This is Ms. Muraoka’s second consecutive gold medal win at the Paralympic Winter Games, after winning five medals, including a gold, at the PyeongChang 2018.
In addition, on March 6, the third day of the games, she won the Para Alpine Ski Women’s Super-G Sitting, at 1 minute 23.73 seconds, earning her second gold medal at these games.
◆Ms. Muraoka wins Silver in the Combined Sitting, her Third Medal in Three Days (updated on March 7)
◆Ms. Muraoka wins Third Gold Medal in the Women’s Giant Slalom Sitting (updated on March 11)
Ms. Muraoka in the Women’s Downhill Sitting where she won a gold medal (Kyodo News)
On March 6, she faced trouble from the start with her left contact lens (with a visual acuity of less than 0.1) falling out almost immediately. Just as in the downhill, the Super-G’s course is steep with many sharp turns, but luckily she had checked out the snow quality and state of the slope before starting the race, and this preparation led her to a victory of 0.11 seconds faster than silver medal winner Forster (Germany).
Ms. Muraoka will participate in five events in total at these games, carrying on all the way through to March 13. Please keep an eye out for her.
Ms. Muraoka beaming as she receives her gold medal during the award ceremony for the Alpine Ski Women’s Downhill Sitting (Kyodo News)
Ms. Muraoka wins Silver in the Combined Sitting, her Third Medal in Three Days (updated on March 7)
Ms. Muraoka gliding through the turns of the second half of the Women’s Combined Sitting event. She won the silver despite struggling with the technical turns. (Kyodo News)
On March 7, the fourth day of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, Ms. Momoka Muraoka won a silver medal in the Para Alpine Ski Women’s Combined Sitting event.
Ms. Muraoka has already won golds in the Women’s Downhill Sitting and Women’s Super-G Sitting on March 5 and 6 respectively, beating her previous record of bronze in the same events, and stood on the podium once again for the third day in a row.
With three medals around her neck and two events still to come, Ms. Muraoka is expected to take home more medals from the Women’s Giant Slalom Sitting and Women’s Slalom Sitting events.
Ms. Muraoka wins Third Gold Medal in the Women’s Giant Slalom Sitting (updated on March 11)
On March 11, the eighth day of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, Ms. Momoka Muraoka claimed her third gold medal from the Para Alpine Ski Women’s Giant Slalom Sitting event. This is her second consecutive gold medal in the same event.
The Giant Slalom is a technical event where competitors combine their times from two runs of the course. Ms. Muraoka came in second out of 13 competitors in the first run, at 1.04 seconds slower than first place, but came out the winner through the second run. With medals already claimed in the Downhill Sitting, Super-G Sitting and Combined Sitting events, this gold medal is now her fourth, and combined with the five she previous won at PyeongChang 2018, she now has a total of nine Paralympic medals.
Ms. Muraoka now only has the Slalom Sitting event on the last day of the Games, March 13, left to face. She is expected to win her fifth medal from this event.
Ms. Muraoka moved to tears at the ceremony by winning a gold medal in the Women’s Giant Slalom Sitting event (Kyodo News)
Congratulatory Message from President Tanaka
I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Momoka Muraoka on her gold medal victories at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
Ms. Muraoka achieved a spectacular result of five medals, including a gold, at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, and also participated in the athletics events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last year.
We are ecstatic at her magnificent gold medal wins at Beijing, despite the short time span of only five months after Tokyo 2020 to prepare. The sight of her determinate spirit and results on this grand stage have given tremendous hope to our university’s students, alumni and teachers alike.
We look forward to her future endeavors.
【競技動画 #北京パラリンピック】 #村岡桃佳 選手
二日連続🥇金メダルの快挙！
２位にわずか0.11秒差で競り勝つ#アルペンスキー
女子 #スーパー大回転 座位📺NHK総合で放送中
競技の模様は特設サイトで🔗https://t.co/ZFEve51Bsc#パラリンピック#Beijing2022#ParaTeamJapan pic.twitter.com/xnD4CwB5ew
— NHKスポーツ (@nhk_sports) March 6, 2022
