An active child, Nicole enjoyed an outdoor lifestyle, surfing, water skiing and fishing. An accomplished soccer player, she played for the first XI at Hamilton Girls’ High School.
While attending a conference for young adult amputees – she was invited to try Para cycling for the first-time in 2015.
“I had never seen a velodrome before and it was surprisingly quite a rush to ride on and actually a lot of fun,” recalls Nicole, who lost her hand in an accident aged five.
Quickly adapting to life as a Para cyclist on her international debut at the 2018 Para-Cycling Track World Championships she snared a silver medal in the C5 Individual Pursuit for New Zealand.
On her Paralympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, she placed fourth in the Women’s C5 Individual Pursuit, sixth in the Women’s 500m Time Trial and on the road claimed a pair of sixth place finishes on the Road in the C4-5 Road Race and C4 Time Trial.
Believing since then she has learned to better deal with race expectations at the 2022 Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Paris, Nicole enjoyed her most successful event to date winning a pair of gold medals in the C5 Scratch Race and the Omnium and a bronze in the C5 Individual Pursuit.
At the 2023 “Super Worlds” Nicole further cemented her rising status by claiming the full suite of medals, highlighted by another gold in the C5 Omnium.
She was rewarded for her stunning year by being awarded Best Summer Female Athlete at the annual global PARA SPORT Awards.
“It was incredible and a massive honour,” she said.
Nicole was also one of six athletes nominated for the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award in the Laureus Awards.
The Kiwi continued her high level of global success at the 2024 Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Rio, bagging a gold medal in the first ever C5 Women’s Elimination Race, silver medals in the C5 Omnium and Individual Pursuit and bronze medals in the C5 500m Time Trial and Scratch Race.
Nicole is all set for her second Paralympic appearance at Paris 2024.
“I love cycling because of the positive changes it brings me and the opportunity for growth,” she explains. “Cycling has enabled me to see some beautiful parts of the world, connect with so many incredible people and helped me to redefine my own definition of what it means to be disabled.”
Away from Para cycling, Nicole loves surfing and caving. She describes herself as a “semi-regular” surfer and goes caving once every three months or so.
“I need time to mentally and physically switch off from riding a bike to foster the excitement to get back on the bike again,” she adds.
