For an elite sportsperson, falling over while competing would usually be the last way they would want to be remembered.
Kiwi middle distance runner Nikki Hamblin went to last year’s Rio Olympic Games with the same dream as any other competitor – to stand on the podium, medal in hand, and to hear the national anthem ring out.
She didn’t quite make it to the dais, but the Cambridge sportswoman came away from her first Olympics as a global superstar and a symbol of fair play, sportsmanship and friendship.
The world was charmed when Nikki (28) and American runner Abbey D’Agostino (24) displayed incredible kindness after a fall that saw the pair sprawled on the track. They helped each other up and bravely continued with the race.
Enamoured with the pair’s gesture of goodwill, the world’s media descended on them with invitations to appear on talk shows, such as Ellen, and interview requests pouring in.
“Yeah, it was pretty overwhelming!” says Nikki with a grin. “It was very bizarre – I just did what every Kiwi would do, you know. We’re athletes, not machines! And something really good came out of something that shouldn’t have been good. Once you’re at that point in the Olympic Games, every athlete knows what every other athlete has been through, so to not help… Well, you wouldn’t not.”
But months after the incident, which saw both Nikki and Abbey win a prestigious fair play medal, life for the down-to-earth Olympian has sort of returned to normal.
After a period of reflection, Nikki’s entering 2017 with different priorities, a new approach to her training, which she says was much-needed, and a different job.
“I’m working part-time at Cycling New Zealand, which is awesome,” she says. “I wanted to balance some type of work with my training. It’s a real privilege to have been able to just be a runner, but I really felt I wanted to get on some kind of career path too.”
Nikki has now come to the realisation that her life has been dominated by sport for far too long. This year, she’ll be attempting to balance her love of athletics with the rest of her life, which includes finishing off her sociology degree – “I’ve only got three papers left!”– and more time with family and friends, whom, she admits, were somewhat forgotten during her preparation for Rio.
“I was so focused on qualifying for Rio, it meant I didn’t enjoy myself or celebrate the other successes along the way,” she explains, adding her obsession for making it to the 2016 Olympics stemmed from qualifying for London 2012, but having to withdraw due to injury.
“I didn’t even get excited when I got named in the team, I was just ticking things off the list. I didn’t say, ‘Yes! I’ve done it.’”
While she’ll be stopping to smell the roses a little more this year and celebrating the small things, life hasn’t much changed for Nikki since before the Games – well, apart from the jokes from her friends and family about falling over.
“If I’m getting on a plane, they’ll say, ‘Now, careful Nikki, don’t trip here!’” she laughs, rolling her eyes. “It’s really original stuff, you know. There’s still so much ribbing.”
But there’s no denying Nikki has had an impact on many Kiwis – from the 87-year-old Ngatea man who carved wooden trophies for both Nikki and Abbey to celebrate their sportsmanship, to the stories she hears of children stopping to help classmates who have fallen during school sports days.
“It’s been really sweet and humbling,” she tells.
“Haydn from Ngatea sent me the trophies. They’re absolutely gorgeous – he made them out of macrocarpa. Mine has the Olympic rings painted gold and Abbey’s are painted with the Olympic colours. The fact that someone took the time to do that – that was just incredible. I sent Abbey’s on to her.”
A firm friendship has sprung up between the two women, with the Kiwi saying only her fellow athlete can quite understand the unique circumstances they both found themselves in.
“We keep in touch,” smiles Nikki. “We email.”
While Nikki doesn’t exactly look back on the moment she and Abbey fell with fondness, she takes comfort in the fact that her very human act of kindness may have moved or inspired others.
“It’s definitely not how I define my running career – I’ve been doing this for 10 years,” she says.
“You can’t control outcomes, you know, but you can control the way you act and how you conduct yourself. And if it means one kid has been inspired to pull on some running shoes and go for a lap around the block, then that’s pretty cool.”
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