Nishiyama Misa competes at NHK Trophy 2026 in Tokyo; Top-four finish earns Worlds berth in Rotterdam.

NHK Trophy 2026: 15-year-old Nishiyama Misa not getting ahead of herself just yet

The newly crowned All-Japan champion is garnering attention fast as a top prospect for LA28. But more than anyone, Nishiyama is reining in expectations - for now, anyway.

Hope is rising fast for 15-year-oldNishiyama Misa, who the JapanGymnasticsAssociation has earmarked as a key prospect forLA28.

But not so fast, says Nishiyama, who won the All-Japan All-Around Championships last month for her first major domestic title in the senior ranks as a first-year high school student.

Should she finish in the top four at the NHK Trophy, which kicks off on Thursday (14 May) in Tokyo, she will make the cut for the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in October in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Until then, Nishiyama, last year’s junior world floor exercise gold medallist, is eager to cool expectations.

“Competition’s not over yet and I haven’t made the team for the world championships,” the teenager said on the eve of the meet at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. “That’s my biggest goal, so it’s where my focus is at the moment.”

Nishiyama’s debut senior season is going well so far. She held offKishi Rinaby a tenth of a point to win the All-Japans, and her combined D score of 22.5 over the competition’s four events was higher than that ofParis 2024Olympians Kishi andOkamura Mana, world floor gold medallistSugihara Aikoand the event’s former championMiyata Shoko.

Murakami Mai, the Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion who is the JGA’s current head of development, has been impressed.

“She is already doing some pretty difficult things as it is,” Murakami said. “She is going to be key at the Olympics.”

Nishiyama knows the tenth of a point separating her and Kishi is not much. Points from the All-Japans carry over to the NHK Trophy in determining the standings.

“In practise, I’ve been working on the finer points, trying to pick up that extra tenth of a point where I can,” she said.

Other than developing tendonitis in her left wrist after the All-Japans, which has since been treated with an anti-inflammatory injection, Nishiyama explained that not much has changed in her life.

But it certainly will, should Nishiyama top the podium this weekend and punch her ticket to Worlds. A top-three finish will also qualify her for the Asian Games in Aichi

“I was grateful because so many people congratulated me,” Nishiyama said of her All-Japan All-Around Championships victory.

“Winning it really hasn’t sunk in yet. But I know that it’s difficult to keep on winning as opposed to winning once, so I’ve changed nothing in the run-up to this point.

“I’m nervous but I want to make sure to finish what I’ve started here. I hope I can enjoy it to the end. I do get distracted by how others are doing but I want to put on the best performance I possibly can.”

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