Miho Nonaka, one of the top female competition climbers in the world, is set on competing in the 2024 Olympic Games. The Japanese-born athlete is no stranger to the high-level world of competitive climbing. In 2020 at the Tokyo Games, Nonaka won Olympic Silver (just behind fellow adidas Terrex athlete and Gold Medalist, Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret, and ahead of Japan’s Bronze Olympic Medalist, Akiyo Noguchi).
The battle for a berth on the Japanese 2024 Olympic team is fierce. Japan’s 2024 Olympic Climbing Team has only 4 spots (two per gender). Ai Mori, who narrowly missed the cut for Japan’s Olympic team in 2020, has already qualified for Paris. The second Olympic ticket for Japan’s Women’s Team is a near deadlock competition between Miho and Futaba Ito, both climbing phenoms in their own right. Miho is currently leading Futaba in the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) by two points (38 compared to Futaba’s 36). Those familiar with Miho’s dynamic and powerful climbing style know that the bigger the stage and the greater the pressure, the more likely it is that Miho will dominate the competition.
The OQS 2024 in Budapest, Hungary, from 20-23 June, is the last opportunity for athletes to secure Olympic berths for Paris-- not only for Miho, but for 159 additional Olympic contenders.