Tomomi Ōtaka lives in Sapporo and started for the "winter combat training unit" of the ground self-defense forces . The sports soldier of the Self-Defense Forces , trained by Sakae Murota, started in cross-country skiing at the beginning of the 1994/95 season in Kiruna for the first time in the cross-country skiing world cup and took 36th place over 5 km classic. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1995 in Thunder Bay , she achieved 62nd place over 5 km classic and 58th place in the subsequent pursuit. The following year she ran at the Junior World Championships in Asiago on 18th place over 5 km classic and 15th place over 15 km freestyle. In the 1996/97 season she took her first World Cup points in Hakuba with 26th place in the pursuit and 23rd place over 5 km classic. At the 1997 Winter Universiade in Muju , she won silver with the relay and gold over 10 km classic. At the season highlight, the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1997 in Trondheim , she came 52nd in the pursuit, 47th place over 5 km classic and 15th place with the relay. At the end of the season, she achieved World Cup points for the last time in Sunne with 21st place in the sprint and thus achieved her best placement in the individual World Cup. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano she finished 48th in the pursuit, 46th place over 5 km classic and tenth place with the relay. In the same year she became Japanese champion over 5 km classic. In the 1998/99 season she was at the Winter Universiade 1999 in Štrbské Pleso eleventh in the pursuit and sixth over 5 km classic. Her best placings at the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1999 in Ramsau am Dachstein were 46th place in the pursuit and 12th place in the relay. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , she finished 48th place over 10 km classic, 47th place in the sprint and 43rd place over 30 km classic. She completed her last World Cup race in December 2002 in Cogne , which she finished in 62nd place in the 15 km mass start race.
Ōtaka made her international debut in biathlon in 2003 at a European Cup race in Ridanna . In the sprint she finished 24th. In the Biathlon World Cup , she started for the first time a year later in a sprint in Pokljuka , where she was 72nd. The high point of the season was the biathlon world championships in Oberhof . During the competitions, she achieved her best World Cup and World Cup placements. Both in the sprint and in the pursuit, she finished 25th and collected her first World Cup points. Shortly after the World Cup, Ōtaka had another good result in second place in a European Cup sprint in Gurnigel behind Irina Malgina . In Turin Ōtaka started for the first time at the Olympic Games . She finished 69th in both the individual and the sprint.
Biathlon World Cup placements
The table shows all placements (depending on the year, including the Olympic Games and World Championships).
1st - 3rd Place: Number of podium placements
Top 10: Number of placements in the top ten (including podium)
Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks (including podium and top 10)
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
Japan
