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- Adele Nicoll . . . Counting Down The Days And Cruising Through The Sports As Commonwealth Games Looms
By Owen Morgan
With just a month to go before the start of the Commonwealth Games, Adele Nicoll could not be in better form.
Last weekend, the Birchfield Harrier produced the performance of her life to win the shot put title at the Muller UK Athletics Championships – just two weeks after claiming the Welsh title.
Sitting in third place, Nicoll stepped into the circle at the Manchester Regional Arena for her fourth round effort.
The Welshpool athlete propelled the shot a massive 42 centimetres further than she had ever done before to register a new personal best of 17.59m.
In doing so, Nicoll catapulted herself past the United Kingdom’s top two ranked competitors and into the gold medal position on the championship’s podium.
And there the 25-year-old stayed until the end of the competition – earning herself a first senior UK title and a massive confidence boost ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
The seven year itch – @owenmogs77 on patience rewarded at the @WelshAthletics
Championships.
👇👇
Adele Nicoll . . . Seven Years Of Waiting And Now She Has Commonwealth Games And Winter Olympics In Her Diary https://t.co/qfAT2mgGxp via @Dai_Sport_— Dai Sport (@Dai_Sport_) August 15, 2021
Pulling on the Welsh vest in Britain’s second city – at her club’s newly refurbished home stadium – will mean the world to the multi-talented sportswoman.
In February, Nicoll represented Great Britain as a bobsleigh brake woman at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The previous month, she won a silver medal in a Bobsleigh World Cup race in Latvia.
But despite her GB successes on the global stage last winter, the Welshpool athlete says selection for Team Wales at the Commonwealth Games is especially sweet.
“Honestly, if you could have seen me when I got that call, I was in tears,” Nicoll told Dai Sport.
“I’ve just put so many years of hard work into it. There’s been many lows along the way. That is so emotional and so mentally challenging – to continue after every time you’re knocked down.
“But I’m just so proud of myself for getting back up every single time and then proving that I’m worthy of this spot.
Shot Put Ace Adele Nicoll Delivers Stunning Bobsleigh World Cup Silver In Only Second Event https://t.co/qJWApnmzu4 via @Dai_Sport_
— Dai Sport (@Dai_Sport_) January 3, 2022
“People ask me what my proudest achievement is. Obviously going to the Olympic Games as part of Team GB and winning a silver medal in the World Cup in the bobsleigh – they’re amazing moments.
“But I’ve only been involved in bobsleigh for a few years, I’ve been chasing a Commonwealth Games for Wales since the age of nine or 10. It was a massive achievement for me and it meant absolutely everything.”
However, representing Wales at the Commonwealth Games will be far from the end of Nicoll’s sporting ambitions.
The Summer Olympics are on her radar as well as another Winter Olympics, although next time Nicoll aims to be in the driving seat on the ice rather than sitting behind Mica McNeill, her pilot in the two-woman bob last season.
“I got home from the Olympics at the end of February and I went to Lake Placid in New York to learn how to drive,” said Nicoll.
“My goal over the next cycle now is to learn how to drive and hopefully be at the 2026 games in Milan Cortina as a monobob driver.
“I think by now people that know me know that I’m competitive. And I always want to do more and do better.
“It was like ‘I won a medal as a pusher. I’ve been to the Olympic Games as part of Team GB as a pusher, why not challenge myself and learn how to drive and see if I can be there as a pilot’?
“It went really, really well. I enjoyed it. I picked it up quite quickly and I didn’t crash! That was an achievement because I think it was one of the only people that didn’t crash on the beginners’ driving school.
“So I’m really looking forward to it. It’s exciting. It’s a challenge and I just love learning new skills.”
Nicoll is also keen to pass on her athletics skills to mid-Wales youngsters looking to get into track and field.
The former Cardiff Metropolitan University student is holding a summer training camp for youngsters aged between five and 18 at Welshpool High School from August 30 to September 2.
Looking further ahead, there could be a third sport on the horizon for Nicoll. Her Commonwealth Games profile notes reveal she is considering eventually taking up a third sport – possibly rugby or a martial art.
Adele Nicholl And Bethan Davies Produce Golden Double . . . As Welsh Athletics Roars In UK Athletics Championship https://t.co/LnHnrsNyGw
— Dai Sport (@Dai_Sport_) June 27, 2022
Asked about her long-term plans, Nicoll told me: “I wouldn’t say I’m searching for a third sport, I was just asked about the future and my future doesn’t just end with these two sports.
“I don’t know what that third spot will be. I’m very much looking to stay involved in athletics for at least another Commonwealth Games cycle up to 2026 and then a Summer Games. I’d love to be at the Summer Olympic Games in 2028.
“And then I’ll see what life looks like at that point. But I would like to participate in another sport professionally before retiring.”
The way things have been going for Nicoll over the past few months, you wouldn’t bet against her succeeding at any sport she decides to turn her hand to.
