Mao Nakamura ( ; ; born March 2, 2000) is a Japanese professional rock climber. She competes in international competition climbing, including the IFSC Climbing World Cup, Asian Championships, and youth-level IFSC events. Representing Japan, Nakamura specializes in bouldering and lead climbing, and is a member of the Japanese national climbing team.. She rose to international attention with strong performances on the World Cup circuit, notably placing 1st in bouldering at the 2025 IFSC World Cup in Salt Lake City, her career-best senior result to date. Nakamura has also earned podiums in youth competitions, including multiple gold medals at the Asian Youth Championships and finalist placements at the IFSC Youth World Championships.
Mao Nakamura was born on Marchà2,à2000, in Japan. She first became interested in climbing in elementary schoolâÂÂafter joining a family outing that led her to a bouldering gym in 6th grade, she quickly fell in love with the sport and began training intensively. She experimented with ballet, tennis, and piano, but by middle school, climbing had become her clear passion. Describing herself as highly competitive, she began winning domestic youth competitions by high school and was selected to JapanâÂÂs national training programs.
Nakamura attended Aoyama Gakuin University, majoring in Cultural Policy. While excelling academically, she maintained a rigorous training scheduleâÂÂclimbing five days a week (about 4âÂÂ5â¯hours per session), complemented by morning runs and weekly fitness sessionsâÂÂand expressed a strong desire to support future generations through climbing outreach.
Mao Nakamura made her first international appearance at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, finishing sixth in the girlsâ combined event. She went on to earn three silver medals in Lead, Speed, and Boulder at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships in Bengaluru, and was a finalist across multiple disciplinesâÂÂLead (12th), Combined (8th), Boulder (24th), and Speed (18th)âÂÂat the IFSC Youth World Championships in Arco, Italy that same year. In 2021, she entered the senior IFSC World Cup circuit full-time, posting strong Boulder results in Salt Lake City (10th) and Innsbruck (10th), and ultimately finishing 10th overall in the 2021 Boulder World Cup standings.
Nakamura continued to build momentum in 2022, achieving a Bronze in Boulder at the World Games in Birmingham and a Silver at the FISU University Championships in Innsbruck. Her 2024 season saw consistent top-10 finishes in BoulderâÂÂincluding 6th in Salt Lake City and Prague, 4th in Innsbruck and at the NEOM Masters, 10th in Seoul, and 4th at the IFSC Asian Championships in TaiâÂÂan. In 2025, Nakamura earned her first senior World Cup gold, becoming the only finalist to top three boulders in Salt Lake City and securing the victory ahead of Zélia Avezou and Annie Sanders. She also reached finals in Curitiba and Keqiao, placing fourth in each
In 2021, she debuted on the senior IFSC circuit, making two Boulder World Cup appearances in Salt Lake City (placing 14th in the first event and 10th in the second) and Innsbruck (10th), and finished 10th overall in the 2021 Boulder World Cup standingsâÂÂranking among JapanâÂÂs top scorers that season.
The year 2022 marked NakamuraâÂÂs expansion into multi-discipline competition. She captured bronze in Boulder at the World Games in Birmingham and silver at the FISU University Championships in Innsbruck.
In 2024, Nakamura secured multiple World Cup topâÂÂ10 finishes, including 6th in Boulder at Salt Lake City and Prague, 4th in Innsbruck, and 10th in Seoul. She also placed 4th in Boulder at the IFSC Asian Championships in TaiâÂÂan and at the NEOM IFSC Masters event.
NakamuraâÂÂs breakthrough came in 2025 when she won her first senior IFSC World Cup Boulder event in Salt Lake CityâÂÂthe only climber to top three finals bouldersâÂÂearning gold ahead of Zélia Avezou and Annie Sanders. She also reached finals in Curitiba and Keqiao, placing fourth in both events.