Latest news with #Hiltz
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Olympian Nikki Hiltz on how they celebrate Pride
Olympian Nikki Hiltz, an 8x National Champion and American Record Holder, is a powerful athlete and leader on and off the track. Hiltz reflects on what Pride means to them and how they celebrate Pride "all year round."
NBC Sports
23-02-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Nikki Hiltz wins distance double, Josh Hoey gets American record at USATF Indoor Champs
Nikki Hiltz is the first person to win five consecutive U.S. 1500m titles including both indoor and outdoor tracks. Hiltz followed their U.S. indoor 3000m title on Saturday by winning the 1500m on Sunday on Staten Island, New York. In the 1500m, Hiltz took the lead with a little more than two laps left and held off Sinclaire Johnson — 4:05.76 to 4:06.05. Hiltz recorded the first women's 1500m and 3000m sweep at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships since Shelby Houlihan did so in 2020. 'Indoors is about positioning,' Hiltz told Lewis Johnson on NBC Sports. 'You can lead indoors better than outdoors. There's no wind. The turns are tighter. Sometimes the pole position is the best position.' USATF INDOORS: Full Results Hiltz, seventh in the 1500m in their Olympic debut in Paris, qualified to race both the 1500m and the 3000m at the World Indoor Championships next month but is skipping the meet to prioritize the upcoming outdoor season. Hiltz won U.S. indoor and outdoor 1500m titles in 2023 and 2024 before making it five in a row on Sunday. No other person won more than four consecutive U.S. indoor and outdoor 1500m titles since U.S. indoor champions began being crowned in the event in 1932 for men and 1967 for women. USATF Indoors crown national champions and determine spots on the team for World Indoors from March 21-23 in Nanjing, China. In most events, the top two finishers who have met the world championships qualifying standard during the qualification window are eligible for the world team. Also Sunday, Josh Hoey lowered his own American record in winning the men's 800m in 1:43.24 to qualify for what would be his first global championship. Hoey, who missed the 2024 Olympic team by one spot, has this month lowered the American indoor 800m record by a total of 97 hundredths. The previous record was 1:44.21 set by Donavan Brazier in 2021. Paris Olympian Chris Bailey earned his first national title in the 400m, prevailing in 45.21. Quincy Wilson, who last summer won 4x400m relay gold at age 16 to become the youngest male Olympic track and field medalist, placed fifth in the six-man final. He could be part of the 4x400m relay pool at World Indoors. Nick Zaccardi,
Reuters
22-02-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Four years after burrito doping defence, Houlihan qualifies for world indoors
NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Shelby Houlihan qualified for the World Indoor Championships on Saturday after a four-year doping ban that she challenged with the now-infamous "burrito defence," finishing second behind Nikki Hiltz in the 3,000 metres at the U.S. trials. Once considered a promising medal contender for the United States, Houlihan missed the last two Olympics in Tokyo and Paris while serving a four-year ban for testing positive for an anabolic steroid. Houlihan has always maintained her innocence, saying she believed the positive result was likely caused by organ meat in a pork burrito that she ate, and she fought the ban in the days leading up to the 2021 U.S. trials in a dramatic saga. "Honestly, not as much nerves as I thought," said Houlihan, who received a warm reception from the home crowd at Staten Island's Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. "Doing time trials the last four years, I just wanted to race." Houlihan took the early lead and stayed at the front of the pack for nearly the entire race, looking poised to cruise to victory before Hiltz turned on the jets over the last two laps. The pair battled through the final straight in a thrilling sprint finish, with Hiltz breaking the tape in 8:48.28 and Houlihan crossing the line 0.15 seconds slower. Whittni Morgan (8:48.56) was third. "I just wanted to get outside my comfort zone," said Hiltz, who took silver in the 1,500m world indoors last year and uses they/them pronouns. "I'm just happy I had another gear." Hiltz told reporters they would not compete at the World Athletics Indoor Championships which run from March 21-23 in Nanjing, China, choosing instead to focus on racing in start-up Grand Slam Track. Houlihan, who won her first three races back this year in Arkansas and Boston and plans to compete in Sunday's 1,500 metres, said she was "not naive" that she could face more hostile crowds in the future. "It's been nice that the ones so far have been positive," said Houlihan. "But I feel prepared if it's not."
