Murase Kokomo: Chasing history
Four years ago in Beijing, Murase shot to overnight stardom in her home country after winning bronze in the Big Air at the tender age of 17 years, three months.
She unseated figure skating legend Asada Mao to become Japan’s youngest female Winter Olympic medallist of all-time by more than two years.
In a nation where Olympians are treated like royalty and perused under a microscope, Murase carried herself tremendously well as a teenager, when many struggle with the limelight.
Even before her rendezvous with Zen, she was solid as a rock. Her precociousness such that Murase knew snowboard was her calling and turned pro when she was in the fourth grade. She was only passed up for the PyeongChang…