Japan's Miho Nonaka and Akiyo Noguchi took women's sport climbing silver and bronze, respectively, on Friday at the Tokyo Olympics.
In a combined competition at Aomi Urban Sports Park using the results from three different disciplines, bouldering, speed and lead climbing, Slovene Janja Garnbret, the defending combined, bouldering and lead world champion, took home the first women's sport climbing Olympic gold medal.
Nonaka, who has been troubled by injuries the past few years, said she was in pain during Wednesday's qualifying, but finished third in both the speed and bouldering and fifth in the lead.
"In qualifying I could barely endure the pain, but in the final I was able to ignore the pain, and was able to employ my techniques wholeheartedly, so I think I overcame the pain."
Noguchi, the 2019 world silver medalist in both combined and bouldering, was fourth in all three disciplines in what she said would be her final competition.
"I've been working all this time so hard to win an Olympic medal, and it was great even though I didn't win a gold medal," said the 32-year-old.
"I wanted to climb better, but right now, my main feeling is joy."
Reigning speed world champion Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland won that discipline with in a world-record 6.84 seconds. Garnbret was fifth in the opening speed climb but reached the tops of two of the three maddeningly difficult bouldering problems. No one else reached even one.
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