Mao Nakamura

Mao Nakamura is a Japanese professional rock climber, born on 2 March 2000, who competes in international competition climbing and specialises in bouldering and lead climbing as a member of the Japanese national climbing team. She became interested in climbing in elementary school and went on to study Cultural Policy at Aoyama Gakuin University while training around five days a week. She made her first international appearance at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, finishing sixth in the girls' combined event, and took three silver medals at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships in Bengaluru. She entered the senior World Cup circuit in 2021 and finished 10th overall in the boulder standings. In 2022 she won bronze in bouldering at the World Games in Birmingham and silver at the FISU University Championships in Innsbruck, and in 2025 she won her first senior World Cup boulder gold in Salt Lake City, ahead of Zélia Avezou and Annie Sanders. The account here rests on her English Wikipedia article, with the Olympedia athlete page as a second source.