Tomoa Narasaki (楢﨑 智亜, Narasaki Tomoa, born June 22, 1996) is a Japanese professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering and competition bouldering.
 Tomoa Narasaki in Munich, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Japanese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 22, 1996 Utsunomiya, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Professional sport climber and boulderer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Akiyo Noguchi (m. 2021) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Type of climber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ape index | +10 cm (4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest grade |
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| Known for |
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Medal record
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| Updated on June 9, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
editNarasaki started climbing at age 10, together with Sachi Amma, in Sachi's family climbing gym. Previously, he had been training apparatus gymnastics.[1]
Climbing career
editCompetition climbing
editNarasaki won the IFSC World Championships in bouldering in 2016 and 2019, and was also the overall winner of the IFSC Climbing World Cup for bouldering in 2016 and 2019.[2]
Narasaki formerly held the Japanese record for competition speed climbing with a time of 5.73 seconds, which he secured in March 2021 at the Climbing Japan Cup speed competition.[3] He devised the "Tomoa skip", a speed climbing technique to bypass one of the lower holds on the speed climbing wall.[4]
In 2019, Narasaki qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by winning the combined bouldering and lead climbing event at the 2019 IFSC Climbing World Championships.[5] He went on to place fourth in the combined event at the Olympics.[6]
In 2023, Narasaki qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by placing third in the combined event at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships.[7] At the Olympics, he finished in tenth place in the semifinals of the combined event and did not move on to finals.[8]
Bouldering
editOn December 1, 2019, Narasaki became the sixth climber to flash a V14 (8B+) grade boulder after sending Decided in Mizugaki, Japan, on his first attempt.[9] In 2021, Narasaki sent Asagimadara V15 (8C) on his third attempt.[10] In December 2023, he flashed Gakidō, originally graded V16 (8C+), although Narasaki gave the boulder a grade of V14 after his send. Narasaki subsequently made the first ascent of the sit start to the climb, which he named Ashuradō and graded V15.
Personal life
editOn December 25, 2021, Narasaki and fellow Japanese climber Akiyo Noguchi announced their marriage on their respective social media pages.[11]
Narasaki's younger brother, Meichi Narasaki, is also a professional climber.[12]
Rankings
edit| Discipline | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | 52 | - | - | - | 15 | 16 | 20 | 32 | - | - | - |
| Bouldering | - | 26 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Speed | - | - | - | - | 84 | 52 | 44 | 59 | - | - | - |
| Combined | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Discipline | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | - | - | 13 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| Bouldering | 10 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| Speed | - | - | 21 | 22 | - | - |
| Combined | - | - | 5 | 1 | - | 3 |
World Cup podiums
edit| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2018 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2018 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2019 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 7 | 15 | 3 | 25 |
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Narasaski comments on his victories and is going for the Olympics". 8a.nu. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- ^ "Tomoa Narasaki earns second overall World Cup bouldering title". The Japan Times. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ "Tomoa Narasaki Gets Personal Best in Speed Climbing". Gripped. March 8, 2021.
- ^ "Tomoa Narasaki raring to scale Olympic walls in sport climbing debut". Kyodo News. August 2, 201. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ Nagatsuka, Kaz (21 August 2019). "Tomoa Narasaki climbs to gold at world championships, punches ticket for 2020 Olympics". The Japan Times. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ "Tomoa Narasaki Olympic Results". olympics.com. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "IFSC Climbing World Championships 2023: Jakob Schubert adds combined boulder and lead title to lead gold in Bern". August 12, 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
- ^ Potter, Steven (2024-08-07). "Huge Upsets in Men's Sport Climbing Lead Semifinal". Climbing. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
- ^ "Tomoa Narasaki Flashes Decided V14 in Japan". Gripped. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ "Tomoa Narasaki brings Olympic fitness to the rock: 8c boulder in the third attempt". LACRUX. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ "Japanese sport climbing stars Noguchi, Narasaki announce marriage". Kyodo News. December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ "NARASAKI CONTINUES TO DOMINATE". IFSC Climbing. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ IFSC, ed. (November 18, 2019). "World Cup Rankings". Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ a b c d IFSC, ed. (November 18, 2019). "Narasaki's profile and rankings". Retrieved November 18, 2019.
External links
edit- Tomoa Narasaki's profile on Adidas-rockstars.com
- Tomoa Narasaki's profile on Fiveten.com