Akiyo Noguchi

Noguchi was also awarded the La Sportiva Competition Award in 2010, "for her victories and the positive spirit she exudes during competitions".

In 2007, she started competing in the Bouldering World Cups, reaching the podium three times. In 2009, she won the World Cup in bouldering, over the previous year's champion Anna Stöhr. Noguchi repeated as champion in 2010, 2014 and 2015. In the 2011, 2012 and 2013 bouldering events at the World Cup she placed second. She has also won the combined climbling title at the World Cup three times.

Noguchi grew up on a cattle farm in the Ibaraki Prefecture. From a young age she would climb on buildings, trees and sometimes even on the cows. In 2000, when she was 11 years old, she would try a real climbing wall for the first time, during a holiday trip to Guam. Back at home she immediately joined a local climbing gym. Her father would later build her a climbing wall in an old cattle barn on the farm.

Akiyo Noguchi (野口 啓代 , Noguchi Akiyo, born May 30, 1989) is a Japanese professional rock climber, sport climber and boulderer. She participates in both bouldering and lead climbing competitions. She is known for winning the IFSC Climbing World Cup in Bouldering four times. In her home country, she won Bouldering Japan Cup nine times consecutively from 2005 to 2014, which no other Japanese athlete has been able to match.