American Nikki Hiltz, the two-time U.S. outdoor and indoor national champion at 1500 meters and the first nonbinary athlete to reach an Olympic individual event final, ended up 7th in Saturday’s 1500-meter final at the Stade de France in 3 minutes, 56.38 seconds.
They were in striking distance for most of the race while weathering a blistering opening lap where Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay set a pace at 59.3 seconds through the first 400 meters and set the stage for a tense duel that ended with a battle of attrition and a familiar face up front.
Hiltz hovered between sixth and eighth but stayed within the lead group, hoping to power into contention late. As the field neared the final lap, the strategy looked like it could pay off, but two events put a crimp in the plan.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly newsletter is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
The first was Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon taking the lead with a power move on the bell lap.
At the same time, Hiltz fell back when they nearly made contact with Kenya’s Susan Ejore.
Just ahead of them, fellow American Elle St. Pierre lost ground as Kipyegon, Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, Australian Jessica Hull and Britain’s Georgia Bell all accelerated and left the rest of the field behind.
Kipyegon pulled away in the final 150 meters to win her third straight Olympic gold at 1500 meters in an Olympic record at 3:51.29.
Hull became the first Australian woman to earn a medal in this event by winning silver. Bell ended up with bronze and a British record.
A disappointing finish for Hiltz perhaps, but these Olympics represent a step forward against the best of the best. Their partner Emma Gee posted a photo of a beaming Hiltz to Instagram after the final, plus a video of the couple embracing and sharing a celebratory kiss.
Three years ago, they failed to make the U.S. team for Tokyo. They were eliminated in the semifinals at last year’s World Championships.
Saturday they were right in the scrum of a record-breaking race, in one of the most competitive events in the sport.
