Though yesterday’s shock defeat saw Tomoa Narasaki place fourth in the men’s combined sport climbing final, Japan has not come away from the sport’s Olympic debut empty handed. In the evening of August 6, 24-year-old Miho Nonaka and 32-year-old Akiyo Noguchi placed second and third respectively in the women’s combined sport climbing final.
Though both women made history for Japan at sport climbing’s debut at the Tokyo Olympics, tonight’s event was an especially cardinal victory for Nonaka who planned to make this her final competition before retiring.
As this year’s competition was a combination of three distinct disciplines – speed climbing, bouldering and lead climbing – the top scores (ie lowest points) were awarded to the athletes with the best overall performance. Silver medalist Nonaka ranked third in climbing, third in bouldering and fifth in the lead event, earning her a total of 45 points, while bronze medalist Noguchi placed fourth in all three disciplines for a combined total of 64 points.
Coming in first place overall was Slovenia’s star climber Janja Garnbret, who came in fifth place in speed climbing but ranked first in both bouldering and lead, earning her a total of five points.
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