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
Tomoa Narasaki in Munich, 2017
Personal information
NationalityJapanese
Born (1996-06-22) June 22, 1996 (age 27)
Utsunomiya, Japan
Occupation(s)Professional sport climber and boulderer
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
SpouseAkiyo Noguchi (m. 2021)
Climbing career
Type of climber
Ape index+10 cm (4 in)
Highest grade
Known forIFSC World Cup and World Champion winner
Medal record
Men's competition climbing
Representing  Japan
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Paris Bouldering
Gold medal – first place 2019 Hachiōji Bouldering
Gold medal – first place 2019 Hachiōji Combined
Silver medal – second place 2021 Moscow Bouldering
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Bern Combined
World Cup
Winner 2016 Bouldering
Second place 2017 Bouldering
Winner 2017 Combined
Second place 2018 Bouldering
Second place 2018 Combined
Winner 2019 Bouldering
Second place 2022 Bouldering
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Bouldering
Gold medal – first place 2022 Bouldering
Gold medal – first place 2022 Lead
Gold medal – first place 2022 Combined
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Combined
Updated on June 9, 2019.

Early life edit

Narasaki 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 edit

Competition climbing edit

Narasaki 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 Tokyo 2020 Olympics by winning gold in the IFSC Climbing World Championships.[5] He placed fourth in the Olympic combined event.[6]

Narasaki qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by placing third in the combined event at the 2023 IFSC Climbing World Championships.[7]

Bouldering edit

On 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.[8] In 2021, Narasaki sent Asagimadara V15 (8C) on his third attempt.[9] 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 edit

On December 25, 2021, Narasaki and fellow Japanese climber Akiyo Noguchi announced their marriage on their respective social media pages.[10]

Narasaki's younger brother, Meichi Narasaki, is also a professional climber.[11]

Rankings edit

Climbing World Cup[12] edit

Discipline 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023
Lead 52 - - - 15 16 20 32 - -
Bouldering - 26 30 1 2 2 1 6 2 3
Speed - - - - 84 52 44 59 - -
Combined - - - - 1 2 1 - - -

Climbing World Championships[13] edit

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

Lead[13] edit

Season Gold Silver Bronze Total
2017 2 2
2018 1 1
2019 1 1
Total 0 2 2 4

Bouldering[13] edit

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

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Narasaski comments on his victories and is going for the Olympics". 8a.nu. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  2. ^ "Tomoa Narasaki earns second overall World Cup bouldering title". The Japan Times. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Tomoa Narasaki Gets Personal Best in Speed Climbing". Gripped. March 8, 2021.
  4. ^ "Tomoa Narasaki raring to scale Olympic walls in sport climbing debut". Kyodo News. August 2, 201. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Tomoa Narasaki Olympic Results". olympics.com. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Tomoa Narasaki Flashes Decided V14 in Japan". Gripped. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  9. ^ "Tomoa Narasaki brings Olympic fitness to the rock: 8c boulder in the third attempt". LACRUX. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  10. ^ "Japanese sport climbing stars Noguchi, Narasaki announce marriage". Kyodo News. December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "NARASAKI CONTINUES TO DOMINATE". IFSC Climbing. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  12. ^ IFSC, ed. (November 18, 2019). "World Cup Rankings". Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c IFSC, ed. (November 18, 2019). "Narasaki's profile and rankings". Retrieved November 18, 2019.

External links edit