OVER THE PAST TWO SEASONS, Nikki Hiltz has risen to new heights — literally and figuratively. After a disappointing ’21 campaign, Hiltz — who came out as transgender non-binary that spring, and uses they/them pronouns — knew it was time to make big changes. They moved from San Diego to Flagstaff, Arizona, for year-round training at high altitude, and began working with Northern Arizona coach Mike Smith. Following a year of getting used to the new set-up at 7000 feet, Hiltz has established themself as the dominant American in the 1500. They’ve now won four straight USATF 1500 titles (two indoors and two outdoors), broken the American Record in the mile, and made the Olympic final in Paris.
“I knew that I could make the Olympic team, I just addressed where I was weak, and that was in my strength,” they say. “I knew I always had a good kick, but I didn’t have the strength to be able to use it at the end of the race.”
That kick had carried Hiltz to back-to-back runner-up finishes in the NCAA 1500 for Arkansas in 2017 and ’18. Then, in their first year as a pro, they finished 3rd at ’19 USA Outdoors, won the Pan American Games gold and made it to the final of the World Championships in Doha (running a PR 4:01.52 in the semifinals).
But after the ’20 season was fractured by the pandemic and Hiltz’s very public coming-out in ’21 added stress and doubt, they were unable to continue that momentum.
“I felt exhausted from explaining what nonbinary meant to the track and field community over and over again,” they recalled on Instagram this summer. “I felt so misunderstood and like everyone in the sport was tripping over their words when talking to me or about me.… I all of a sudden felt like I didn’t belong in this sport anymore.”
Hiltz finished a disappointing 13th in the 1500 at the ’21 Olympic Trials, and didn’t advance out of the 800 heats. But they still loved the sport and knew they had three years to get ready for another shot.
That fall, Hiltz and their partner, steeplechaser Emma Gee, spent time in Flagstaff for a training camp. While there, Hiltz often ran with Rachel Smith, a ’21 Olympian in the 5000 (as Rachel Schneider). When Hiltz expressed interest in a full-time move to Flagstaff, Smith encouraged them to reach out to her husband. Though Mike Smith emphasized that…
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