Nikkita Holder: 100m hurdles

Name: Nikkita Holder
Hometown: Pickering, Ontario
Club: Project Athletics Track & Field Club
Coach: Anthony McCleary
Age: 25
Personal Best: 12.80 (100m hurdles)

Nikkita Holder qualified for the 100m hurdles in a drama-filled Olympic Trials race on June 30 in Calgary. Six athletes stepped to the line with the Olympic “A” standard including three former Olympians. Only the first three women would qualify for the Olympics. After tumbling over a hurdle during her pre-race warm-up, Holder flew to a third-place finish to secure a place on her first Olympic team.

Growing up in Pickering, Ontario, Holder was always one of the fastest kids. She joined Durham Legion Athletics and decided to give the hurdles a try after some convincing by her parents and coaches. Holder went to the University of Illinois on a track scholarship and won a number of individual titles including the Indiana Open in Bloomington, Illinois.

Holder first represented Canada in 2011 at the world championships in Daegu where she finished in sixth place. She represented Canada a second time at the world indoors in Istanbul and again placed sixth in the 60m hurdles. After a successful indoor season and an early qualifying time, Holder only had to run the perfect race to qualify for the Olympics. As if to show the country that she deserved the position on the Olympic team, she went on to win National Track League events in Halifax and Toronto this summer.

Currently, Holder runs with Project Athletics Track & Field Club based in Toronto. Holder is engaged to Markham’s Justyn Warner who also made the Olympics team for the 100m.