Japanese snowboarder Tsubaki Miki underscored her potential as a breakout athlete of next year's Winter Olympics by winning her second medal at the freestyle world championships in Switzerland on Saturday.
Two days after taking silver in the parallel giant slalom, the 21-year-old from central Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture clinched gold in the parallel slalom.
"I fought until the end, without giving up. I can't believe it," said Miki, who turned the tables on Czech star Ester Ledecka in the final.
Ledecka, a multiple Olympic and world championship gold medalist in skiing and snowboarding, had beaten Miki for the parallel giant slalom title in St. Moritz.
Miki is the first Japanese athlete, male or female, to become a parallel slalom world champion. While the event will not be on the Olympic program next winter in Milan and Cortina, her performance across the two disciplines has heightened expectations for her games debut in parallel giant slalom.
She made the Olympic event her training focus for this season's World Cup circuit, winning it twice as she claimed four gold and 13 total medals on her way to the overall titles in both disciplines.
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