Teenager Nevin Harrison overcame her ‘terror’ of competing within the Olympics to strike gold within the girls’s 200m single canoe race.
The 19-year-old from Seattle, WA, had declared her ambition to win gold, however revealed she had been engulfed with concern of competing on sports activities largest stage.
Tonight she put these worries behind her to win the gold medal, beating Canada’s Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (silver) and bronze medalist Liudmyla Luzan of Ukraine.
Teenager Nevin Harrison overcame her ‘terror’ of competing within the Olympics to strike gold within the girls’s 200m single canoe race
Gold medalist Nevin Harrison of the US celebrates on the rostrum after her win
The brand new Olympic champion solely took up the game 5 years in the past and after successes within the World Championships, the expectations of gold in Tokyo grew.
She stated: ‘Olympic gold in 2021 has at all times been my dream, and it’s loopy that it’s inside attain, it is terrifying.
‘The stress is horrifying, nevertheless it additionally holds me to a better customary. I do know the world is watching so I’ve to ensure to at all times put my finest foot ahead.
(From R) Bronze medalist Ukraine’s Luidmyla Luzan, gold medalist USA’s Nevin Harrison and silver medalist Canada’s Laurence Vincent-Lapointe pose on the rostrum following the ladies’s canoe single 200m last throughout the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Video games at Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo on August 5
The 19-year-old from Seattle, WA, had declared her ambition to win gold, however revealed she had been engulfed with concern of competing on sports activities largest stage
Tonight she put these worries behind her to win the gold medal, beating Canada’s Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (silver) and bronze medalist Liudmyla Luzan of Ukraine
‘The Olympic Video games imply all the things to me. I’ve devoted my entire life for this dream.’
Nevin took up paddling eight years in the past having initially chosen working, till she was identified with hip dysplasia.
The ache compelled her to cease working and take up paddling, first in a kayak then in a canoe.
‘Most individuals begin with kayaking and folks would possibly get mad at me, however I acquired within the kayak, and I believed, ‘That is boring. I wish to do one thing more durable’.
‘So after I was 12 and I used to be falling each single time within the canoe, I favored the problem.’
Nevin took up paddling eight years in the past having initially chosen working, till she was identified with hip dysplasia. She is pictured together with her household
Her function fashions normally got here from Group USA Olympic athletes like Allyson Felix, Gabby Douglas, and Jamaica’s dash king Usain Bolt. ‘I at all times dreamed of being as dominant as they had been’ she added
‘Rising up I did not have any function fashions within the canoe/kayak world as a result of I did not actually know anybody.
‘The canoe is such a small sport within the US so it was actually simply enjoyable till just a few years in the past.’
Her function fashions normally got here from Group USA Olympic athletes like Allyson Felix, Gabby Douglas, and Jamaica’s dash king Usain Bolt.
‘I at all times dreamed of being as dominant as they had been’ she added.
Nevin stated later: ‘I’m so excited, actually happy with what I did. It is thrilling to be a part of historical past. ‘I am undoubtedly nonetheless in a dream. That is loopy… I am so grateful for my entire help system: my buddies, my household, my coach. That is wild.
‘I am so stoked. It is the proper factor I might have requested for, I could not have requested for something higher.’
She paid tribute to her two medal-winning opponents who she described as ‘ superior’ and added: ‘What an exquisite group of women, superb ladies on that podium with me. I am actually fortunate.
‘ We gave one another a hug and stated, ‘We’re making historical past’. As a result of we’re, that is our first 12 months and I am so excited to be gold medallist for the primary 12 months, that is loopy.’
She led nearly from the off and accomplished the race in 45.932 seconds, almost a second forward of silver medallist Vincent-Lapointe.
‘I’m enthusiastic about my race plan and I’m actually pleased with it.
‘I feel I knew it was going to be the toughest race of my life, as a result of it is the Olympics and that’s what it’s all about.’
She stated she hoped the gold medal would convey others into the game again in America.
‘I hope it helps develop the game and now we have a tremendous neighborhood within the US. It’s a small one …I actually hope places it on the map.
‘I feel the US is stacked with superb athletes. It is a cool sport and aggressive, it will be superior to have extra ladies, and boys.’
She added: ‘I’m solely 19, I hope I’ve a protracted street forward of me on this sport. I hope I’m just the start of my street.
‘The pandemic was a 12 months of actually, actually intensive coaching.’
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