Momoka Muraoka settles for silver as Anna-Lena Forster wins super combined

Momoka Muraoka was denied her third gold of the Beijing Paralympics on Monday when her German rival Anna-Lena Forster came from behind to win the women’s sitting super combined.

Forster, who was beaten by the Japanese in the downhill and super-G sitting events over the past two days, finally got her gold when she finished 0.77 second ahead of Muraoka, with Liu Sitong of China skiing to bronze.

Muraoka topped the super-G phase of the competition early on Monday, building a 6.07-second buffer over Forster, but the German’s aggressive ski in the slalom saw her clock a time 6.84 seconds faster in the more technical of the two races that make up the super combined event.

Muraoka, who won gold in the giant slalom at the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, still has the slalom and giant slalom skiing events remaining at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.

If she can win one more gold in China, she will become the first Japanese to collect four career Winter Paralympic titles. She will also equal the record for the most gold medals won by a Japanese athlete at a single Winter Games.

Forster has now won one gold and two silver at the Beijing Games to take her career tally to eight medals, the same total as Muraoka.

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