Sara lived in a fantastic environment for ski jumping—there was a practice jump in her neighborhood, and she also received guidance from her father, older brother, and other athletes. More than anything, Sara’s diligent work allowed her natural talents to bloom. In 2009 she won the Grand Prize at a competition held at the Okurayama Jump Stadium in Sapporo-shi. At age 13, she joined the Japan Women’s Team.
Furthermore, Sara set a record for the longest successful jump—141 meters—at the Okurayama Ski Jump, where she participated in the Women’s Division of the 53rd HBC Cup in 2011 (right before she graduated from junior high school). In February of the same year, she became the youngest woman to win an international ski jumping competition officially recognized by the International Ski Federation (FIS) at the Continental Cup.

These two seasons were highly successful ones, with Sara winning Innsbruck the Youth Olympic Games in 2011-12, the FIS Women’s World Cup in 2012-2013 and the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships two years in a row. In the 2013–2014 season, Sara competed in the Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia, in addition to winning 15 out of the 18 individual events comprising the FIS Women’s World Cup, breaking the women’s ski jumping record for most wins in a single season and garnering her second consecutive World Cup title. In the 2014–2015 season, her team placed third in the mixed team event at the Nordic World Ski Championships. As an individual, she recorded six wins at the FIS Women’s World Cup, finishing second overall. In the 2015–2016 season, she came in first in 14 out of the 17 FIS Women’s World Cup events and, after missing the top spot in the previous season, clinched her third title. In the 2016-2017 season, Sara took bronze medals in a women's individual and a mixed team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Claiming the overall title at the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup for a second consecutive and fourth total time, she marked her 53rd win, tying the record for individual event victories (men's and women's). In the 2017–2018 season, Sara won a bronze medal at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea. She also achieved a historic milestone at the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, recording 63 career victories, the most by any ski jumper in World Cup history, and reaching 116 podium finishes, the highest total ever in women’s ski jumping. More recently, she earned a bronze medal in the mixed team event at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. As she continues to evolve and inspire fans around the world, expectations remain high for her future achievements.