Early in her career, there was little to suggest that Nia Akins would eventually become America’s top hope for an Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter run.
And yet, even as the NBC TV announcers were bemoaning the fall of heavy favorite and 2021 Olympic champion Athing Mu, there was the 25-year-old Akins roaring into the lead en route to capturing the 800 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, last weekend.
“I knew something happened, I felt the shift in the pack behind me,” said Akins, who was running comfortably in second place when Mu, like Akins three years earlier, tripped and fell to the track. “In the prelims and semifinals, I looked at the scoreboard to see where I was, but in the finals, I never looked, so I didn’t know what happened.”
Akins’ winning time of 1:57.36 is No. 4 in the world this year, behind the 1:55.78 by Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, heading to the Olympic Games in Paris, , in late July. Hodgkinson ran her time in the Prefontaine Classic, where Akins, competing in her first outdoor meet of the season, finished fourth in 1:57.98.
She, like former San Diegan Steve Scott, who would dominate the men’s mile for more than two decades, was barely a blip on the radar of U.S.A. middle distance runners while attending Rancho Bernardo High School.
Her best time of 2:08.91 came as a junior in 2015 where she placed sixth in the state.
Even at the University of Pennsylvania, she didn’t make her mark until her junior and senior seasons when she placed second in the NCAAs indoors and out.
“She was told not to expect much because no one who majored in the tough nursing school had been able to balance that with track,” said her high school coach, Terry Dockery.
Akins still hadn’t broken the magic 2-minute barrier and wouldn’t until she moved to Seattle to train with Danny Mackey and Julian Flores of the Brooks Beasts Track Club.
Finally, in 2022 at the Running Sound meet at JSerra High in San Juan Capistrano, she dipped under 2:00 at 1:58.82, starting a stunningly fast move into international significance, which included winning the U.S. National Championship in 2023 at 1:59.50, qualifying for the World Championships in Hungary, where she placed seventh in 1:57.73.
Still not good enough to get more than a casual mention from NBC prior to the Trials finals.
But, as she did in the semifinals, Akins caught everyone’s attention when she made a strong move with 180 meters remaining, building an uncatchable lead while cruising to a personal best time and the coveted Olympic berth.
“It still hasn’t hit me,” said Akins. “I was just excited to race going into the Trials and I really had no strategy — I just wanted one of the top three spots to qualify. With 200 meters remaining, I decided to go for it. My thought was, ‘if it happens, it happens.’
“At that point I had tunnel vision, and I didn’t look up at the scoreboard. In truth, you never know what might happen, so I prepared myself to fight off anyone who came up to challenge me. I had already controlled as much as I could control.
“During the race I kept thinking I only had to go hard for another two minutes…three years of preparation had come down to two minutes. I had to thank God for preparing me for it and when I finished, I looked at scoreboard and thought ‘we did it.’”
She won easily by almost a full second over Allie Wilson (1:58.32).
Akins said she knew what to expect on everything from being interviewed post-race to being completely outfitted with U.S.A. apparel, choosing a blue uniform, after receiving similar treatment the year before after qualifying for the World Championships
.“The staff is first-rate,” said Akins, noting that she’ll have three pairs of Brooks Hyperion MD spikes, which require no breaking in. “The rings they give us are very special — we get whatever we need. They even gave us PJs.”
But first Akins, who proudly calls herself one of the Beasts after her track club’s name, will head off to Albuquerque, N.M. for some high-altitude training at 5,300-feet, noting that the experience she gained with the World team as well as the Trials, prepared her well.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have great coaches my whole career,” said Akins, who turns 26 on July 7 and is anything but a one-trick pony, getting set to release an album as a vocalist and songwriter after Paris.
“I always wanted to learn to play the guitar and when COVID hit, I took the opportunity to do that. Yes, I’m taking my guitar to the Olympics.
“Then there’s always nursing. I like working in a chaotic environment, I loved the pressure in the step-down neurological ICU unit at Penn. I guess that’s the athlete in me, dealing with pressure.”
She’s looking to medal (top three) in Paris and Dockery, for one, won’t be surprised if it happens.
“I’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t medal,” said the veteran distance coach, “but the 800 is a very unforgiving event, it’s scary. She’s laser-focused, something I noticed when she was at RB. I wished she’d have more fun and now it seems like she is having fun.
“When she runs, she kind of glides, despite having good speed (55.38 for 400 meters). She never gets the full credit, but she’s as good as anyone in the world.”
