Para snowboarder Gurimu Narita found his true calling in life as a motivational speaker after he saw his chance to compete at 2014 Sochi Olympics slip through his fingers because of a serious knee injury.

Narita says sharing his personal experiences of adversity and triumph is almost more rewarding than winning a gold medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics, but the latter will help build his credibility -- fast.

The 24-year-old suffered an injury during a trampoline training session in April 2013 that left his left knee paralyzed. And now that he has decided to shift his focus to the Paralympics, he hopes to inspire people through what he does best.

"I think the best part about the Paralympics is that people get to know what the athletes went through, their stories. The athletes have gone through so much. So I want people to feel something while watching them compete," Narita said at a recent promotion in Tokyo.

Narita will be competing in the men's Paralympic snowboard LL-2 category, one of two in the discipline for athletes with lower limb impairment. The snowboard cross event takes place on Monday and banked slalom on Friday, where he will compete alongside compatriots Daichi Oguri and Atsushi Yamamoto.

Narita's long journey in sports began shortly after he started walking. He recalls snowboarding when he was a 1 year old and taking up wakeboarding the following year under the watch of his father Takashi who was hoping to raise a family of world-class athletes.

His brother Domu and sister Melo Imai, both snowboarders, met their father's expectations when they competed at the 2006 Turin Olympics and the younger Narita thought he was set to emulate them.

But things did not happen as expected. Narita's training accident came just as he was on track to make his Olympic debut at the Sochi Games, the injury occurring just one month after he won the junior world ski halfpipe title in 2013.

After the injury that almost forced him to have his leg amputated, it was his father who persuaded Narita to return to competition, and he was back in the mountains in no time.

"I wore my ski boots about a month after I was discharged from the hospital," Narita said. "My leg was in such bad condition that I had to ice it for 30 minutes after every 30 minutes I walked."

"I just thought (my father) is out of his mind, but I forced myself to do it, and then I was able to ski again."

His recovery went so well that he even participated on the World Cup circuit again up to February 2016, with his best result a 15th at an event in Calgary, Canada, in January 2014.

"The ski boots, fortunately, worked out like a cast. But there were still tricks that I couldn't pull off," Narita said.

The Osaka native says he has shifted his focus to the Paralympics -- at least for now -- but he still has one eye on the Olympics.

"I thought people would take it for granted that I can compete in the Paralympics if I participate at the Olympics first. But if it's the other way around and I manage to make an impression at the Paralympics in snowboard cross, I just think it's much better to make my Olympic debut after that."

"My dream is to give hope, courage and inspiration to people with disabilities and injured athletes who are about to give up on sports," Narita said.

"I think the best way to do this is through participating in both the Paralympics and the Olympics. I can show people that athletes with disabilities can compete with those who don't have disabilities," Narita said. "To me, what kind of sports I play doesn't really matter."

Now that he has found peace, he even appreciates the injury for teaching him about what is important in life.

"I'm thankful for my injury," Narita said. "You don't often experience a time when life hits you hard in the head. The injury really hit me hard, but I was able to learn twice as much and it gave me a new dream."

"I've been running towards achieving my dream, and I actually like myself for that."