Photo/Illutration Momoka Muraoka beams after grabbing gold in the women’s downhill sit skiing event at the National Alpine Skiing Center in Beijing on March 5. (Yuki Shibata)

BEIJING--An elated Momoka Muraoka thrust her left hand upward in triumph here March 5 after learning she placed first on her run in the women’s downhill sit skiing event, giving Japan its first gold medal in the Beijing Paralympics.  

“It was a big relief and I’m really happy,” she said.

It was a perfect start as she has been hoping to wrap up the Winter Games with strong performances in all five events she enters.

But there was more good news to come for the 25-year-old head of Japan’s athletic squad in the Paralympics.

She picked up a second gold medal the following day for the sitting super-G Alpine event.

But getting to this point was not easy for her.

In the Pyeongchang Games held in South Korea four years ago, her first Paralympics, Muraoka won medals in all five events she competed in, ending up with a gold, two silvers and two bronzes.

Muraoka was overjoyed at her achievements, but also felt burnout.

“Franky, I felt I had accomplished all that I had wanted,” she said.

After the Paralympics, she found no joy in skiing.

She felt weighed down by the expectations others placed on her, and eventually it became too much for her to deal with.

“I should take a break from skiing,” she recalled thinking at the time, knowing that she needed to recharge her batteries by doing something different.

She set her sights on wheelchair racing in the Tokyo Paralympics held last summer after a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic and on competing in the final of the event.

Muraoka began training in April 2019 for a new discipline.

She soon realized she did not have the physical stamina to deftly maneuver a wheelchair in competition.

Despite a brutal training regimen to develop strong arms and shoulder muscles, Muraoka was delighted simply to be doing something new. She improved her time constantly, harking back to when she was a budding skier.

She attained her goal of moving on to the final in the wheelchair racing event in Tokyo, finishing in sixth place.

After that, she felt ready to aim for the Beijing Paralympics.

Although she was given only six months to train, her experience in the Tokyo Paralympics helped her to build core strength and stability.

But the biggest benefit from her hiatus from skiing was renewed passion for the sport.

In the March 5 event, only three of the seven entrants crossed the finish line.

“I am hoping to give my best performances” in the three events remaining at the Yangqing National Alpine Skiing Center, she said. A second gold medal at this point was just the boost she needed.

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