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When Nikki Hiltz qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the American middle-distance runner declared their achievement had a significance that went beyond themselves.
“This is bigger than just me,” Hiltz said.
Hiltz is transgender and non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. The 29-year-old qualified for the Paris Games with a US trials record and the second fastest time of any American in the women’s 1500 metres, and will be representing the LGBTQ community as well as the flag of the United States when they make their Olympic debut.
“I wanted to run this one for my community,” Hiltz, who has always competed in the women’s category, said after qualifying. “All the LGBT folks, you guys brought me home that last hundred [metres]. I could just feel the love and support.”
Hiltz came out as transgender non-binary on March 31 2021, the International Transgender Day of Visibility. They made the announcement in an Instagram post that read: “Hi I’m Nikki and I’m transgender. That means I don’t identify with the gender I was assigned at birth. The word I use currently to describe my gender is non-binary.
“The best way I can explain my gender is as fluid. Sometimes I wake up feeling like a powerful queen and other days I wake up feeling as if I’m just a guy being a dude, and other times I identify outside of the gender binary entirely. It’s complicated and complex and something I’m still trying to navigate myself, but I’ve decided it’s time to share my gender fluidity with you all.”
Hiltz, who grew up in Santa Cruz, California and now lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, will not be the first openly transgender and non-binary athlete to compete at the Olympics. Canadian football player Quinn became the first when they competed in Tokyo three years ago, going on to win a bronze medal, as well as then playing in the Women’s World Cup last summer.
In an interview with Runners World, Hiltz said that while competing at the Olympics is a “dream”, their other ambition to ultimately transition is currently not possible due to rules around transgender athletes. “Going to the Olympics is such a dream of mine,” they said. “But it’s also such a dream of mine to take testosterone or grow facial hair or have top surgery, and so I think sometimes I can really resent this sport.”
Hiltz missed out on the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021. They finished last in their final qualifying heat and said they struggled under the pressure they were putting on themselves to represent the LGBTQ community at the Games. However, their performances improved coming into the 2024 season and they qualified for the 1500m with a personal best time of 3:55:33, a record in the US trials.
