- By Tyrone Smith
- ` Sport Scotland
26 minutes ago
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Yeargin helped Scotland win bronze in the 4x400m relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Nicole Yeargin admits she has been considering her future in athletics after a disappointing indoor season – but says she is now fully focused on the “aerial battle” to earn a place in Team GB's squad for the Summer Olympics to secure in Paris.
The 26-year-old Scottish athlete has won bronze medals in the 4x400m relay at the World, European and Commonwealth Games.
But she endured a frustrating start to the year, with a disappointing performance at the British Indoor Championships and then missing the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
“Once I got through the indoor season, I was a little bit like, 'What's going on, should we hang these up?' [spikes] high? “I don’t know if I have what it takes,” she told ` Sport Scotland.
“But then I talked to my coach and I realized what went wrong. If we can turn it around, I have every confidence I can do it again.”
“One day you can be at the top, another day at the bottom, athletics is very unforgiving.
“It sucks knowing what I wanted to run and what I started with last year – 51.0 seconds. That was my goal this indoor season and it hasn’t been achieved.”
“I was a little confused and it kind of hits you right in the heart – this is what you do, this is your career.”
“So it was annoying to keep running a slow time even though I knew I could do better. I think that would be on anyone’s mind.”
“I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. So when it was my time to go, it was my time to go. But I came back to training the next Monday and was ready to train. I am still here.”
Yeargin, who took up athletics just eight years ago, made her Olympic debut at the recent Tokyo Games, competing in the women's 400m and the women's 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relays.
US-born and based Yeargin, who qualified to race for Scotland and Great Britain through her Scottish mother, believes she is now a more mature athlete.
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(LR) Nicole Yeargin, Laviai Nielsen, Amber Anning and Ama Pipi took bronze in the 4x400m relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships
“I feel like I'm definitely an adult now,” she added. “I was fresh out of college and I think life hit me a few times.
“But I’m still determined. This is my job now, we didn't put the team together just for fun. This is a job – we’re here to get paid and put our name to it.” [history] Books.
“People have been waiting for me to take the next step and really exploit my talent. The pressure is simply greater now. I’m not the boy, I know everyone now – I know how much time everyone runs.”
“Obviously the 400m girls are my friends, so I just have to find the 'Yeah, you're my friend, but I'm going to beat you today' mentality.”
The two-time British 400m silver medalist, who changed coaches towards the end of last year, believes the sprinting landscape in Team GB circles has changed since the Tokyo Games but remains confident of her place in the competition Can secure a flight to Paris.
That depth was on display when Lina Nielsen, Laviai Nielsen, Ama Pipi and Jessie Knight set a new British record time when they took bronze in the 4x400m relay final at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow earlier this month.
“We’ve gotten so much stronger over the last three years,” Yeargin said.
“You’ve got Amber Anning running fast, you’ve got the college students, you’ve got the pros – a lot of them run fast – so it’s going to be a dogfight this year.”
“I make my own schedule, that's the maturity of knowing what I can do and what I can't do and when I should do something and when I shouldn't.”
“Last time in Tokyo everything was planned for you, this year I'm planning my schedule – when I want to race, what I want to do, how I can improve. That’s helpful.”
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