Nikki is a T53 wheelchair racer who competes in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and marathon. She is also a T1 triathlete and hopes to start competing internationally in paratriathlon in the coming years.
In 2008 Nikki was driving back from Oxford University, where she was studying neuroscience and psychology, when she had a near-fatal car crash. The car flipped over and her seat slammed her into the steering wheel. It took three hours for the fire brigade to cut her free, during which time she lost feeling in her legs due to breaking her spine at the bottom of her ribs.
Nikki spent 10 weeks at Stoke Mandeville National Spinal Injuries Centre undergoing intensive physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. She was told she’d never walk again and had to adapt to life in a wheelchair. During this time in hospital she watched the Beijing Paralympics and was inspired to take up Paralympic sport by the athletes she saw on screen. She now competes against these athletes internationally and still gets star struck occasionally!
After a few months training with GB Rowing Nikki’s potential in athletics was picked up at a British Paralympic Association talent-spotting day and after a visit to the BPA Fast Track Power and Performance training camp from Dr Ian Thompson and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Nikki was persuaded to try wheelchair racing. Her first race was the Silverstone half marathon where she qualified for the 2009 London Marathon.
After being given a bespoke racing wheelchair by Wheelpower Nikki came fourth in the 2010 London Marathon and won four medals at the 2010 U23 World Track Championships. She also won bronze in the Great North Run. At the end of the season she was ranked 6th in the world for the T53 800m and 7th in the world for the wheelchair marathon.
During 2011 Nikki has won the Great Manchester 10k and achieved the IPC Paralympic A Standards for London 2012 in the T53 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. She aims to improve on her personal bests to move further up the world rankings.
In addition to racing Nikki volunteers as a coach for the disability branch of Vale of Aylesbury athletics club. She is passionate about promoting sport among disabled people both for fitness and as a pathway to international achievement.
