Top things to know about Japanese snowboarder Onitsuka Miyabi

Onitsuka Miyabi went into the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games with high expectations of a podium finish, even a gold by many.

However, she came out of the snowboarding competition empty-handed and in tears, finishing 19th in slopestyle and eighth in Big Air. Not the Games debut she was hoping for.

In the three years since, Onitsuka went back to the drawing board, rededicating herself to the craft and reviewing everything from her training regimen to her diet to her gear. It was a gutsy move for someone who has constantly been in the spotlight ever since becoming the youngest winner (slopestyle) at the World Championships in 2015.

The move appears to be paying off. Onitsuka won the Big Air at the 2020 X Games and followed it up by capturing silver at the event in 2021, when she also became the first Japanese, male or female, to reach win a World Championship medal in that discipline.

Poised for a second serving of the Games at Beijing 2022, Onitsuka is gunning for gold in both events this time. Here's what to know about the 23-year-old potential breakout star:

Sister act

Onitsuka isn't the only elite athlete in the family.

Her younger sister Kiri, three years Miyabi's junior, is a budding golfer on the cusp of winning a professional tour card. Like Miyabi, Kiri used to snowboard until she got into golf at the age of eight and is dreaming of Paris 2024.

Skill set

Onitsuka, a native of Kumamoto Prefecture, took up snowboarding when she was five, winning her first domestic competition in the first grade. Touted as the golden child, she signed her first sponsorship deal at seven.

Check out Onitsuka perform a century of tricks. That's 1-0-0.

Tailor made

If you build it, she will come.

Onitsuka has been honing her skills at the Alts Bandai snow park in Fukushima Prefecture since she was a child. In 2017, she pleaded to the operators of the park, the internationally acclaimed Hoshino Resorts, to make a world-class training slope where she could base herself.

And they built one, just like that - called Miyabi Park. The story goes like this:

Hungry like the wolf

Onitsuka can not only snowboard, she can eat.

Because of her high metabolism, she says she puts away 4,000 to 5,000 calories per day. That's double the average recommended intake for an adult.

So it should come as of no surprise that since 2017, Onitsuka has been backed by a popular gyoza franchise in Osaka.

And it looks like they are keeping her stock replenished at all times.

K-9

While Onitsuka pounces like a cat on the slopes, she is very much a dog person. She even has a partnership with a veterinarian clinic.

Dog days.