Miho Nonaka (野中 生萌, Nonaka Mihō, born May 21, 1997) is a Japanese competition climber who specializes in competition bouldering. She is an Olympic silver medalist in sport climbing.
 Nonaka at the Bouldering World Cup, Munich, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Japanese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | May 21, 1997 Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Professional climber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Climbing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type of climber | Competition climbing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
editNonaka's father and sister introduced her to climbing when she was nine years old.
Climbing career
editIn 2013, Nonaka began competing on the international senior circuit at IFSC Climbing World Cups at age 16, initially focusing on competition lead climbing.
In 2014, Nonaka transitioned towards competition bouldering, winning her first World Cup medal with a second-place finish at the Boulder World Cup in Laval and eventually finishing the World Cup season in fifth place in the overall ranking for bouldering.[1]
Nonaka continued to move up the overall rankings for bouldering in the following World Cup seasons, finishing in third place in 2015 and second place in 2016. She won her first World Cup gold medal at the Boulder World Cup in Navi Mumbai in 2016.[2]
In 2018, Nonaka won the overall title in the Boulder World Cup by earning a place on the podium at every World Cup that season, winning one gold medal and six silver medals.[3]
In 2019, Nonaka was deemed by the IFSC to have qualified to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by finishing in fifth place in the combined event at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships.[4] In December 2020, Nonaka's Olympic berth was confirmed after a dispute between the IFSC and the Japan Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Association was resolved in Nonaka's favor.[5][6][7][8]
In preparation to compete in the combined event at the 2020 Summer Olympics (postponed to 2021), Nonaka competed at bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing events during the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Cup season, making finals across all disciplines and winning a bronze medal at the Speed World Cup in Salt Lake City.[9] At the Olympics, Nonaka won a silver medal in the combined event.[10]
Nonaka followed up her Olympic medal with two straight second-place finishes in the overall rankings of the Boulder World Cup in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, Nonaka placed second in the rankings of the combined bouldering and lead climbing event at the Olympic Qualifier Series, securing a spot for the combined event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[11] At the Olympics, she finished in ninth place in the semifinals of the combined event and did not move on to finals.[12]
Rankings
edit| Discipline | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | 42 | 55 | – | – | 46 | 23 | 19 | 26 | – | 14 |
| Bouldering | – | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Speed | – | – | – | – | – | 43 | 30 | 9 | – | – |
| Combined | 5 | – | – | 8 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
Climbing World Championships
editYouth[14]
| Discipline | 2015 Juniors |
2016 Juniors |
|---|---|---|
| Bouldering | 2 | 4 |
Adult[14]
| Discipline | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | – | – | 16 | 26 | 8 |
| Bouldering | 15 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| Speed | – | – | 25 | 25 | – |
| Combined | – | – | 5 | 5 | 7 |
World Cup podiums
edit| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2015 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2016 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 2017 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| 2018 | 1 | 6 | 7 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 4 | 10 | 10 | 24 |
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 1 | 1 |
Notable ascents
editOn September 15, 2021, Nonaka redpointed Mr. Hyde 8c+ (5.14c) in Céüse, France.[15]
References
edit- ^ Magazine, Gripped (2014-06-29). "Bouldering World Cup: Laval and season wrap-up". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "Bouldering World Cup 2016: first victories for Miho Nonaka and Kokoro Fujii in India". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "Miho Nonaka and Jernej Kruder win Bouldering World Cup 2018". PlanetMountain.com.
- ^ "Highs and Lows: 2019 Climbing World Championships". Climbing. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "Japanese Athletes Confirmed for Olympics Following Dismissal of Appeals". Climbing. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "CAS rejects appeal against sport climbing qualification process for Tokyo 2020". www.insidethegames.biz. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ "Japanese Climbing Federation Loses Lawsuit Against IFSC". www.gymclimber.com. 14 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport (10 December 2020). "Arbitral Award for cases CAS 2019/A/6557 and CAS 2019/A/6663, JMSCA v. IFSC" (PDF). ifsc-climbing.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-03-25. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ Walker, Noah (2021-05-29). "New Speed World Record at Salt Lake City World Cup". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ ifsc-forge-converter-client (2021-08-06). "Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing". www.ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "24 Combined athletes qualify in Budapest for Paris 2024 Olympic Games". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "Olympics: Japanese climbing star Nonaka misses final, Mori advances". Kyodo News. 8 August 2024.
- ^ IFSC, ed. (August 20, 2019). "World Cup Rankings". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c d IFSC, ed. (May 30, 2022). "Nonaka's profile and rankings". Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- ^ "Miho Nonaka climbs Mr Hyde 8c+ at Céüse". September 16, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
