Tokyo Olympic sport climbing silver medalist Miho Nonaka fell painfully short of the women's boulder and lead final Thursday at the Paris Games as compatriot Ai Mori punched her ticket to the ultimate stage.
Nonaka placed ninth at the end of the lead semifinal at the Le Bourget Climbing Venue, with her total of 115.5 points leaving her 0.9 short of a guaranteed spot in the eight-woman final.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't perform as well as I needed, but I'm grateful to everyone who has given me such great support," Nonaka said.
Mori qualified fourth with 150.1 after she tied Slovenia's Janja Garnbret, the overall top qualifier, for the best lead score of 96.1. The 20-year-old Mori slipped as she went for the 100-point hold at the top.
"I was definitely nervous before I climbed," Mori said. "I was disappointed I couldn't get the last hold, but I'm glad I was able to give it my all."
Tokyo gold medalist Garnbret showed why she is widely considered the sport's all-time best by amassing 195.7 out of a possible 200 for the two semifinal rounds.
Having completed the bouldering round in seventh place, Nonaka jumped to a provisional fifth following her lead climb, which came to an abrupt end after the 27-year-old had looked comfortable moving up through the zones.
With five climbers still to come, including big guns Garnbret, Mori and American Brooke Raboutou, Nonaka had a tense wait to see if her score would be enough. Her fate was effectively sealed as she dropped to eighth before the last climber Garnbret took to the wall.
Austria's Jessica Pilz qualified in second place with 156.9, just 0.1 ahead of Raboutou in third. Semifinal scores do not carry over to Saturday's final.
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