Paris Olympics 2024: Transgender, Non-binary Runner, Nikki Hiltz Qualifies For Olympics
By
OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
A transgender and nonbinary middle-distance runner, Nikki Hiltz, has qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris by running the second-fastest time of any American in the women’s 1500-meter race on Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Using the pronouns they/them, Hiltz surged ahead of Elle St. Pierre and Emily Mackay in the last lap, setting a trials record with a time of 3:55:33.
Hiltz claimed that Elle St. Pierre, the top-finishing American and third-place finisher in the women’s 1500 at the Tokyo Olympics, motivated them and the other competitors to race faster. With a first lap time of 61 seconds, St. Pierre led the race for the majority of its duration.
On Sunday, Pierre and Emily Mackay, who placed second, both earned spots in the Paris Olympics. Hiltz said in a Monday social media post that their qualification for the Olympics in Paris fulfilled a childhood goal of theirs.
“I’m not sure when this will fully sink in,” they wrote. “All I know is today I’m waking up just so grateful for my people, overwhelmed by all the love and support, and filled with joy that I get to race people I deeply love and respect around a track for a living.”
It was payday Sunday in Eugene as 11 finals were on the slate and with 33 U.S. Olympic team roster spots up for grabs on the 10th and final day of competition.
In 2021, the IOC revised its policies on transgender athletes to give more deference to the governing bodies of individual sports.
Hiltz won’t be the first athlete who identifies as nonbinary to compete in the Olympics. Quinn, a soccer player from Canada, made history by being the first openly transgender and nonbinary athlete to compete in the 2022 Tokyo Olympics. Later, when Canada defeated Sweden 3-2 on penalty kicks, they became the first transgender athlete to win an Olympic medal.
