The 400m athlete on her Tokyo disqualification, how she thrives under the relay pressure and her hopes for a mixed relay spot in Paris
Nicole Yeargin made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2021 as everything she had been working towards finally fell into place. Representing Team GB in the women’s 400m final was exactly what she had hoped for but it didn’t go to plan for the American-based Scot, despite finishing third in the semi-finals.
Initially believing that her third place had secured her a spot in the final, she was later disqualified due to a lane infringement, dashing her hopes of competing for that Olympic medal.
It was a painful ending to what had been a successful season for the 26-year-old. Yeargin was, and still is, third on the Scottish all-time women’s 400m list after posting an Olympic qualifying time of 50.96 at the NCAA Championships that year.
“I was young. I had just graduated college at the time, I had just come off a great season at the NCAA Championships,” says Yeargin.
“Coming off the Games during such a high season, I learned how to adapt to it. I had a fear of getting back in my lane and for the first couple of races after the Olympics you are thinking: ‘Don’t do that’. It makes you think more.
“When I look back at it, I really had mental anxiety and I didn’t know it was anxiety at first, I thought it was just stress.
“Coach always told me you have 24 hours to bask in your glory or cry and be negative. It was a big turn around, it sucked at first and I think your first loss is always going to be your hardest, but I am back at the Olympics three years later.”
However, that wasn’t the end of Yeargin’s Olympic journey in 2021 as she had the chance to prove her potential in the relays – the event at which she feels she excels.
Yeargin was part of the mixed 4x400m team, alongside Nicklas Baker, Emily Diamond and Cameron Chalmers, who finished sixth (3:12.07).
Tokyo 4x400m team (Getty)
Towards the end of the Games Yeargin had one last chance to get on that podium in the women’s relay. Despite the grit and determination of the team, she, Jodie Williams, Emily Diamond and Ama Pipi took fifth place (3:22.59).
“I didn’t let my DQ set me back because I still had to run the relays,” says Yeargin. “If I had just got DQ’d and that was it, then I would probably be a little salty but the relays helped me get out of that groove.”
However the British team have been proving themselves in the last few years after winning two bronze medals at the World Championships in Eugene and Budapest.
Yeargin, who was part of those line-ups, is soaking up the pressure of gaining another medal.
Nicole Yeargin, Laviai Nielsen, Amber Anning, Ama Pipi (Getty)
“It’s pressure but it’s good pressure. Everyone is getting faster but so are we,” she says.
“We have so many legs running fast this year and we have some great guy runners this year as well.
“I think, coming off Tokyo, we got fifth in the women’s and sixth in the mixed – we are definitely going to crush that up this year.
“Even when I am down, and you think I am not doing well in the season I always come through for the relays and I can’t wait to show them what I’ve got.
“I will be competing after the Olympics which is new for me, I usually end [my season] after the championships so I am really happy to be in a good head space to be able to knock out some more races post Olympics.”
In 2022 Yeargin also landed Commonwealth Games relay bronze for Scotland but she already has a goal in mind when it comes to stepping on that purple track in Paris.
Femke Bol, Nicole Yeargin and Stacey Ann Williams (Getty)
“Coach said: ‘I just need you out there and do what you always do, split a 49’ and I was like: ‘Well I’m going to do more than that’.
“I’ve run 49s in the past two years and I haven’t run that fast as an individual so I have some confidence behind me, and we can go a little faster than that.
“The mixed relay is going to be hard but I am up for it. I am 100 per cent there and, if they need me, I will be in.”
When you first hear Yeargin speak, her American accent might be the most noticeable thing.
Raised in Maryland, she qualifies to compete for Team GB thanks to her mother, who was born in Dunfermline.
“When I explain it to people I think it’s normal and I still have family living in Scotland,” says Yeargin. “My mum was born and raised in Scotland her whole life, so I just have a different accent.
“I don’t trash talk the Americans but, at the end of the day when you get on that track, you are my enemy.”
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