Miho Nonaka

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.

Miho Nonaka

Nonaka at the Bouldering World Cup, Munich, 2015
Personal information
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1997-05-21) May 21, 1997 (age 28) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Professional climber
Height	163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Climbing career
Type of climber	Competition climbing
Highest grade	Redpoint: 8c+ (5.14c)
Known for	Winner of overall Boulder World Cup title in 2018 2020 Olympic silver medalist
Medal record Women's competition climbing Representing  Japan Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Combined World Championships 2016 Paris Bouldering World Cup (Overall) Winner 2018 Bouldering 2016 Bouldering 2022 Bouldering 2023 Bouldering 2015 Bouldering Asian Championships 2014 Lombok Bouldering 2015 Ningbo Bouldering 2018 Kurayoshi Combined 2024 Tai'an Bouldering

Early life

Nonaka's father and sister introduced her to climbing when she was nine years old.

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.^[1]

Nonaka at the Bouldering World Cup, Munich, 2015

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

Climbing World Cup

Discipline[13]	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

Youth^[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

Bouldering

Season[14]	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	2
Total	4	10	11	25

Speed

Season[14]	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2021			1	1
Total			1	1

Notable ascents

On September 15, 2021, Nonaka redpointed Mr. Hyde 8c+ (5.14c) in Céüse, France.^[15]