While Nikki Hiltz took a victory lap to celebrate a long-awaited trip to the Olympics, some fans reached out and handed bracelets to their favorite 1,500-meter runner — a runner who is doing this, in part, for them.
These days, Hiltz, who’s transgender and nonbinary, is shining in two lanes — on the track as one of the world’s top middle distances runners with a trip to Paris upcoming, and away from it as a role model for the queer community. Hiltz, who’s always competed in the female category, uses the pronouns “they” and “them,” and highly suggests people get used to that because they aren’t going anywhere.
“I’m just looking forward to keep showing up as myself and keep taking up space,” the 29-year-old Hiltz said Sunday at the U.S. track trials after earning their first trip to the Olympics. “I use they/them pronouns and people stumble all the time. But it’s like, ‘You can’t really ignore me anymore, because I’m a two-time, back-to-back champion. I’m here, get-it-right’ kind of vibe.”
Hiltz’s race plan last Sunday went exactly according to how they drew it up. They got out to a fast start, stayed close to the lead pack and took off at the end. Hiltz ran a personal best and meet-record time of 3 minutes, 55.33 seconds to hold off Emily Mackay and Elle St. Pierre by less than a second.