Paris Olympics: Athlete Nicole Yeargin picked by Team GB

The 26-year-old, who ran at the delayed Tokyo Games of 2021, will take to the track in Paris this summer following the announcement of the athletics squad by the British Olympic Association (BOA).

Nicole has been picked as one of seven athletes for the women's 4x400 metre relay squad, and is one of nine Scots, out of a total of 64, that have been selected for track and field events.

Over the final weekend in June, the US-born competitor was in action at the Microplus UK Athletics Championships, in Manchester, which gave athletes the opportunity to seal their place on the team for Paris.

Running in the 400m, Nicole won her heat - one of four in the women's event - with a time of 52.01 seconds, ahead of Keely Hodgkinson, an 800m silver medallist in Tokyo and the reigning European champion over that distance.

Nicole Yeargin has been selected for a second successive Olympics, after running for Team GB in Tokyo three years ago. (Image: Jim Payne.)

In the final, she placed fourth, in a time of 51.34, behind race winning Amber Anning, who set a course record of 50.47, Laviai Nielsen (50.92), and Yemi Mary John, who ran a season's best of 51.23.

Afterwards, Nicole was hopeful that her finish would be enough to clinch a Paris place, and that has now been confirmed.

"Second Olympics, like, that's amazing," she told scottishathletics.

"Obviously the one per cent goes to the Olympics the first time, but two-time Olympian, it really just puts it on the head, or hits it on the nail, whatever you call it, and it's just so, so nice because, last time, when it was in Tokyo, we didn't have any fans.

PARIS HOPES#SALtogether
📹'Hopefully I've done enough to make selection for 2nd Olympics' @yourfitnic @PitreavieAAC 🇫🇷🇬🇧 https://t.co/a9DPSXBQeC@SALChiefExec @OvensDavid @scotshurdler @paulallan71 @SAL_Coaching @BritAthletics @dunfermlinep @RossH_DP @EilidhDoyle @leslie_roy1

— scottishathletics (@scotathletics) July 3, 2024

"I didn't feel like I got the true Olympic experience, so it's really, really nice to go to Paris, out of all places.

"It's going to be loud, it's going to be fun - I can't wait."

Nicole, who also ran a season's best 400m time last month, helped secure 4x400m relay qualification for Team GB at the Olympics at the World Athletics Relays in May.

READ MORE: Nicole helps GB secure Olympic relays qualification

Running in both the women's and mixed events, her efforts helped ensure a British team would compete in Paris in both.

In the women's relay, she was in the quartet alongside Hannah Kelly, Victoria Ohuruogu and Lina Nielsen that ran a season's best time of 03:24.89 in the heats, before GB finished fourth in the final to secure qualification.

For the mixed, Nicole joined Brodie Young, Charles Dobson and Nielsen in the repechage heat, in which she ran the final leg to maintain a comfortable lead over second-placed Ukraine and seal a dominant win.

The mixed relay team in Paris will be selected from athletes running in the men's and women's 4x400m, and Nicole will be aiming to run in that discipline for a second successive Olympics.

In Tokyo - which was postponed for a year due to COVID-19, and held behind closed doors - she helped Team GB to sixth in the mixed relay, and fifth in the women's, but suffered disqualification in the heats of the individual 400m.

Since then, Nicole has gone on to win 4x400m bronze medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships, as well as at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham two years ago, whilst running for Scotland.

Born and raised in Maryland, in the United States, Nicole is eligible for, and chose to represent, Scotland and Great Britain as her mum, Lynn, is originally from Dunfermline.

A Scottish indoor 400m record holder, Nicole was last year selected to receive funding from UK Athletics ahead of this year's Olympic Games as part of its Olympic World Class Programme.

Backed by the National Lottery, the UK Sport initiative aims to to identify, develop and support talented athletes towards medal success at the Olympic Games and other major championships.

Following news of her selection, a spokesperson for Pitreavie AAC said: "It is fantastic news again that Nicole has been selected, and the club will be supporting her and wishing her success."

Mark Pollard, head of performance with scottishathletics, commented: "Across that group of selected athletes there are numerous different stories and different journeys in the sport.

"There are clear examples of those who came through the grassroots system in Scotland and now have arrived at Olympic level and are winning medals at major championships.

"I think it is really positive that we can all see those stories and the pathway that’s been established in Scotland over a number of years now.

"Younger athletes in Scotland can look up to these role models and see what is possible."

Mark England OBE, Team GB Chef de Mission, said: "The group boasts a very strong mix of Olympic, World and European medallists.

"I am confident that their experience will a source of inspiration and support not only to the 35 debutants who have also made the team, but to the wider Team GB too."

The Paris Olympic Games begin on Friday July 26, and run until Sunday August 11.