All-Japan All-Around Championships 2024: Miyata Shoko overcomes nerves to win first women's title
The third time was the charm for Miyata Shoko.
After settling for second place in the last two years, Miyata captured her first All-Japan All-Around Championship with a clean performance on Saturday (13 April), underlining her credentials as the country’s top female gymnast.
Finishing her day with a 13.166 on the floor for a 109.798 total, the 19-year-old put more than two points on runner-up Kishi Rina (107.463) and 15-year-old Nakamura Haruka who finished with a 107.131.
Miyata is now halfway towards qualifying for her maiden Olympic Games this summer in Paris. The top 23 from the All-Japans advance to the NHK Trophy next month, where Japan’s five women for the Games will be selected.
“It was huge being able to get on a roll from the start,” Miyata said at the Takasaki Arena in Gunma Prefecture. “I’d always make some kind of mistake in qualifying in the past which would affect me in the final.
“This time, I qualified tops and while I was confident of getting the job done, I was a little afraid of screwing up in the final. I was probably more nervous than usual.
“I had fun competing until the end. I probably could have done better in certain areas but all in all, I’m happy with the performance.”
Miyata on the NHK Trophy: 'I want to put on a show'
Miyata started her round with a 14.333 on the vault, the top score on the day. She followed it up with a 13.700 on the uneven bars and a 13.633 on the balance beam before hitting the floor.
The 19-year-old admitted to feeling nervous on this afternoon, often needing to exhale and putting a hand on her chest after coming off each apparatus.
With the scores from this championship carrying over to the NHK Trophy on 16-19 May, Miyata took some solace from her production this week that’s given her a leg up in the qualifying race.
“Getting off to a good start will be important. I’m not saying it’s easy now but this does help in terms of trying to make the team,” said the Kyoto native who has looked night and day here compared to last year, when she fought through a stress fracture in her right heel.
“There’s still two more days to go at the NHK. I can’t afford to let up and I want to perform even better than I did today. I’m expecting a lot of people to turn up at the NHK and I want them to think I’m worth the admission.
“I want to put on a show that will make them want to root for me in Paris.”
The men’s final is on Sunday.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.