Melo Imai’s unthinkable journey from Olympic snowboarding to adult content stardom

Still just in her mid-thirties, Melo Imai has experienced a lifetime full of ups and downs. She had dreams of becoming an elite winter sport athlete, but those visions changed as she went down a very different path.

Perhaps the turning point for Melo Imai came in 2006, as she was about to participate in the experience of a lifetime. She represented Japan in Milan at the Winter Olympics that year, and had a chance to punch her ticket to prominence in the qualifying round. However, a terrible fall left her in and out of consciousness, according to Fox Sports Australia.

Imai ended up finishing dead last, 34th ^out of 34 competitors, after the unfortunate crash. As a teenager, she was labelled as a “waste of taxpayers' money” and “Japan's embarrassment”, according to the Tokyo Reporter.

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Because of the negative spotlight placed on her, Imai became what is known in Japan as a 'hikikomori', according to the Tokyo Reporter. This means that she hid away from society for what ended up being a period of six months.

Imai's athletic career wasn't over, but it was hanging by a thread due to the flameout at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She did come back to win the Takasaki Cup in 2008, but according to the Tokyo Weekender, her heart wasn't really into the sport anymore. The Olympic experience had taken a lot out of her.

“For many athletes the Olympics is the pinnacle of their career, but for me it was a nightmare,” Imai told the Tokyo Weekender. “I don't just mean because I got injured and failed to progress. The whole experience was terrible. Leading up to the Games I had this constant fear of failure, like a choking feeling. “It was the same throughout my career.”

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Imai and her brother, Dome Narita, were snowboarders coached by their father, Takashi Narita. Narita would set up a rigorous training program for his children, which may have eventually been their undoing.

“We would often go to Nagano to practice, and work on our technique with a trampoline at our home in Osaka,” Imai told the Tokyo Weekender. “Training would usually start at 5am and sometimes I wouldn't be finished until 11 at night. Dad said we should be constantly focusing on snowboarding, so I didn't have to attend school. As a result, I didn't get much of an education.”

Imai and her brother would eventually break ties with their father. Imai went so far as to change her birth surname from Narita to Imai during this period. Perhaps Takashi Narita wanted his children to experience Olympic success, since he hadn't been a volleyball player in the 1990s. “I was banned from any kind of behavior that was girly, like wearing a skirt or putting on makeup,” she told Fox Sports.

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As Imai's snowboarding career came to an end, she was cognizant of her dwindling bank account. Without an education to fall back on, she needed to find a way to earn a living. According to the Tokyo Reporter, she moved to Osaka, and worked as a bar hostess.

Her work as a hostess parlayed itself into adult content. According to Fox Sports, she turned to adult favors, nude photo shoots and later adult films. “I used to be really shy and felt that I always needed to cover my body. That is something that has changed in recent years. I've had work done, but it isn't the only reason. I began to believe in myself much more.”

While she seemed to have solved her financial problems, Imai was going through a difficult time emotionally. “Living started to feel stupid,” she told the Tokyo Reporter. “I just wanted to depart from this world,” as she reportedly attempted to end her life during her initial introduction to adult content.

According to Fox Sports, Imai and her brother became tarentos, which lends itself to a socialite type of lifestyle. Their fame allowed them to have different opportunities. Dome Narita became a stage actor, while Imai was making her living in the adult content world.

Photo source: Tokyo Reporter

In 2017, she returned to snowboarding, and took home first place at the All Japan Snowboarding Championships. “I wanted to return to the world of snowboarding, so I'm taking care not to get involved with things that are in the adult content world,” Imai told The Sun UK.

“I was so nervous since this was my first time on the super-pipe after 11 years,” she said after her victory. “But my mom came to watch me this time, so I was thinking I just had to try my best and win.”

“Speak to me and you will see that not everything is negative in my life,” Imai told the Tokyo Weekender. “I'm enjoying my work as a gravity idol (a model) and I'm back snowboarding again. I'm also coaching the sport to various kinds of people, including my son and daughter. I want to make it fun without putting any pressure on them at all. The exact opposite of how I was taught.”

Photo source: Tokyo Weekender

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