The battle of Beijing for snowboarder Keiji Okamoto ended Friday with a 13th-place finish in the banked slalom event, but the Japanese Paralympic debutant departs China with his head held high and knowing how he must improve.

Okamoto, a former able-bodied snowboard pro, competed in the SB-LL2 classification at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, northern China, and finished eighth in the snowboard cross event for the same class earlier in the week.

"To be honest with you, I am not satisfied with the result," said the 40-year-old after Friday's race in which compatriots Takahito Ichikawa finished eighth and Shinji Tabuchi 18th in the same class.

Japanese snowboarder Keiji Okamoto competes SB-LL2 classification of the men's banked slalom event at the Beijing Paralympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China on March 11, 2022. (Kyodo)

"But the second chapter for us starts here," said Okamoto, whose hunger to win and make the most of his opportunities at the Winter Games drive him forward with equal force.

The Olympic Games are not just about winning medals, and that may hold even truer for the Paralympic Games which feature athletes who in many cases have endured life-changing events. Their stories of overcoming hardship to be able to perform on the global stage have the unique ability to touch people's hearts.

"For a person like me, whose life was almost over at one point because of a serious accident, it is absolutely amazing to reach this stage where people want to listen to what I have to say," Okamoto told reporters after the snowboard cross competition.

The native of Kobe, western Japan, was an accomplished freestyle snowboarder and founded a team in 2007, but an accident seven years ago when he was riding in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, changed his path.

He had a 10-meter fall off a cliff and injured his spinal cord when he suffered a fracture to his third lumbar vertebra.

The doctor told him he will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but through intensive rehabilitation and the support of his family and friends, Okamoto was able to take up para snowboarding in 2016.

Japanese snowboarders Keiji Okamoto (L) and Takahito Ichikawa are pictured after the SB-LL2 classification of the men's banked slalom event at the Beijing Paralympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China on March 11, 2022. (Kyodo)

After emerging from such a traumatic experience, he is sure to appreciate the experiences he is having.

"How it is possible for anyone not to enjoy the moment at a stage like this?" asked Okamoto, who suffers more severe impairment to his right lower limb as compared to his left.

Okamoto, who used his history as a slopestyle rider to become involved in snowboard park construction, also launched a mobile app in 2018 that helps users find places to ski and snowboard in Japan.

After failing to win a medal in Beijing, he promised the Japanese men's snowboarding team will be stronger and more competitive now they better know their weaknesses.

"I will improve my strength by gaining more muscle and weight," Okamoto pledged.

Among the six-member Japanese men's snowboarding team, only Daichi Oguri competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics. The rest of the team got their first taste of the Paralympics in Beijing.

"We would like to improve in the next four years so that we all can earn medals in the next games," he said.