Kai Harada and Miho Nonaka sealed Japan's final sport climbing berths in next summer's Tokyo Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed a suit by the Japan Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Association, the body said Saturday.
Although the ruling does not change the number of Japanese who will compete in sport climbing's Olympic debut, it still hurts. The decision deprives other athletes of a chance to qualify and deprives would-be Olympians of the chance to sharpen their skills through competing in summer qualifying events.
The JMSCA had sued in an attempt to hold off on naming its final two Olympic sport climbers from among the remaining candidates. The trouble arose over confusion regarding the International Federation of Sport Climbing qualification policies.