Miho Nonaka

{{Infobox climber

| image = Nonaka miho 1988 original.JPG

| image_size =

| caption = Nonaka at the Bouldering World Cup, Munich, 2015

| name = Miho Nonaka

| nationality = Japanese

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1997|05|21}}

| birth_place = Tokyo, Japan

| death_date =

| death_place =

| residence =

| education =

| occupation = Professional climber

| height = 163 cm

| typeofclimber = Competition climbing

| highestgrade =

| highestredpoint = {{Climbing grade|8c+}}

| highestonsight =

| highestflash =

| highestboulder =

| knownfor = {{flatlist|

Winner of overall Boulder World Cup title in 2018
2020 Olympic silver medalist

}}

| firstascents =

| namedroutes =

| majorascents =

|medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{JPN}} }}

|show-medals = yes

}}

{{Nihongo|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.

Early life

Nonaka's father and sister introduced her to climbing when she was nine years old.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

Climbing career

In 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.{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Gripped |date=2014-06-29 |title=Bouldering World Cup: Laval and season wrap-up |url=https://gripped.com/news/bouldering-world-cup-laval-season-wrap/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Gripped Magazine |language=en-US}}File:Nonaka miho 1993.JPG, Munich, 2015|left]]

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.{{Cite web |title=Bouldering World Cup 2016: first victories for Miho Nonaka and Kokoro Fujii in India |url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/competitions/-bouldering-world-cup-2016-first-victories-for-miho-nonaka-and-kokoro-fujii-in-india.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=PlanetMountain.com}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Miho Nonaka and Jernej Kruder win Bouldering World Cup 2018 |url=http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/competitions/miho-nonaka-and-jernej-kruder-win-bouldering-world-cup-2018.html |website=PlanetMountain.com}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2019-08-21 |title=Highs and Lows: 2019 Climbing World Championships |url=https://www.climbing.com/competition/highs-and-lows-2019-climbing-world-championships/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Climbing |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |date=2020-12-15 |title=Japanese Athletes Confirmed for Olympics Following Dismissal of Appeals |url=https://www.climbing.com/news/japanese-climbers-confirmed-for-2020-olympics-following-dismissal-of-appeals/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Climbing |language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=CAS rejects appeal against sport climbing qualification process for Tokyo 2020 |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1102000/japanese-sport-climbing-ifsc-cas-case |website=www.insidethegames.biz |access-date=18 July 2021 |date=14 December 2020}}{{cite web |title=Japanese Climbing Federation Loses Lawsuit Against IFSC |url=https://www.gymclimber.com/japanese-climbing-federation-loses-lawsuit-against-ifsc/ |website=www.gymclimber.com |access-date=25 September 2022 |date=14 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129103652/https://www.gymclimber.com/japanese-climbing-federation-loses-lawsuit-against-ifsc/ |archive-date=2022-11-29 }}{{cite web |title=Arbitral Award for cases CAS 2019/A/6557 and CAS 2019/A/6663, JMSCA v. IFSC |author= Court of Arbitration for Sport |url=https://cdn.ifsc-climbing.org/images/media-centre/Documents/2021/CAS_Arbitral_Award_6557-6663.pdf |website=ifsc-climbing.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325042900/https://cdn.ifsc-climbing.org/images/media-centre/Documents/2021/CAS_Arbitral_Award_6557-6663.pdf|archive-date=2024-03-25 |access-date=10 October 2022 |url-status=usurped |date=10 December 2020}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Noah |date=2021-05-29 |title=New Speed World Record at Salt Lake City World Cup |url=https://gripped.com/indoor-climbing/new-speed-world-record-at-salt-lake-city-world-cup/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Gripped Magazine |language=en-US}} At the Olympics, Nonaka won a silver medal in the combined event.{{Cite web |last=ifsc-forge-converter-client |date=2021-08-06 |title=Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing. |url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/news/gold-for-garnbret-in-olympic-games-sport-climbing-combined |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=www.ifsc-climbing.org |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |title=24 Combined athletes qualify in Budapest for Paris 2024 Olympic Games |url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/competitions/24-combined-athletes-qualify-budapest-paris-2024-olympic-games.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=PlanetMountain.com}} At the Olympics, she finished in ninth place in the semifinals of the combined event and did not move on to finals.{{cite news |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/08/369bf02ab9b1-olympics-japanese-climbing-star-nonaka-misses-final-mori-advances.html |title=Olympics: Japanese climbing star Nonaka misses final, Mori advances |date=8 August 2024 |website=Kyodo News}}

Rankings

= Climbing World Cup =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | Discipline

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2013

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2014

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2015

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2016

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2017

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2018

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2019

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2021

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2022

! style="background: #b0e0e6" | 2023

align="left" | Lead

| 42

| 55

| –

| 46

| 23

|19

|26

| –

| 14

align="left" | Bouldering

| –

| 5

| style="background: #cc9966" | 3

| style="background: silver" | 2

| 4

| style="background: Gold;" | 1

|15

| 5

| style="background: silver" | 2

align="left" | Speed

| –

| 43

|30

| 9

| –

align="left" | Combined

| 5

| –

| 8

| style="background: #cc9966" | 3

| 4

| 6

= Climbing World Championships =

Youth

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | Discipline

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2015
Juniors

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2016
Juniors

align="left" | Bouldering

| style="background: silver" | 2

| 4

Adult

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | Discipline

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2014

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2016

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2018

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2019

! style="background: #b0e0e6;" | 2023

align="left" | Lead

| –

| 16

| 26

| 8

align="left" | Bouldering

| 15

| style="background: silver" | 2

| 5

| 24

align="left" | Speed

| –

| 25

| –

align="left" | Combined

| –

| 5

| 7

World Cup podiums

= Bouldering =

width = "55" \| Season ! width = "55" style="background: gold;" \| Gold ! width = "55" style="background: silver;"\| Silver ! width = "55" style="background: #cc9966;"\| Bronze ! width = "55" \| Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
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	2
Total	4	10	11	25

= Speed =

width="55" \| Season ! width="55" style="background: gold;" \| Gold ! width="55" style="background: silver;" \| Silver ! width="55" style="background: #cc9966;" \| Bronze ! width="55" \| Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
2021	1	1
Total	1	1

Notable ascents

On September 15, 2021, Nonaka redpointed Mr. Hyde {{Climbing grade|8c+}} in Céüse, France.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/world-competition/ranking|title=World Cup Rankings|editor=IFSC|editor-link=International Federation of Sport Climbing|date=August 20, 2019|access-date=August 20, 2019}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php?option=com_ifsc&task=athlete.display&id=2294|title=Nonaka's profile and rankings|editor=IFSC|editor-link=International Federation of Sport Climbing|date=May 30, 2022|access-date=May 30, 2022}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/miho-nonaka-climbs-mr-hyde-8c-plus-ceuse.html|title=Miho Nonaka climbs Mr Hyde 8c+ at Céüse|date=September 16, 2021|access-date=July 13, 2023}}

}}