CJ Nickolas is a professional American Taekwondo player who is currently 22 years old and stands 6 feet 2 inches tall. Nickolas is the first American taekwondo athlete to earn a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He secured his place in history, as the first American male to win a medal at the World Taekwondo Championships since 2009.
CJ Nickolas’s Mother is his biggest supporter
CJ Nickolas, an American professional taekwondo athlete, was born on July 18, 2001, in Oakland, California, United States.
His mother, Denise Nickolas, is a graduate of Pacific Union College and San Francisco University. On the other hand, his father, Edward Givans, has a background, having served as a committee member at USA Taekwondo and as an infantry soldier in the U.S. military. Edward Givans is a graduate of the Academy of Art University and Trinity University. Although he currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, but is from Oakland, California.
American Professional Taekwondo player CJ Nickolas was born on July 18, 2001, in Oakland, California, United States. His mother’s name is Denise Nickolas. She studied at Pacific Union college. She graduated from San Francisco University.
His mother, Denise Nickolas was his biggest inspiration. He also has a sibling, a sister named Christian Nickolas.
During his middle and high school years, CJ Nickolas competed in track, showcasing his athletic skills from an early age.
CJ Nickolas Early Qualification in Paris Olympics 2024
An American taekwondo, CJ Nickolas, the 22-year-old silver medalist at the World Taekwondo Championships, has become the first U.S. taekwondo athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nickolas secured his qualification for the Olympics early, as the No. 2 athlete in the 80kg division.
Had another American athlete ranked in the top 20 worldwide, Nickolas would have faced the challenge of competing at a trial event to determine the spot in the Olympics. However, the next highest-ranked American in the 80kg division, Michael Rodriguez, currently stands at the 21st position in the world rankings.
In May 2023, Nickolas became the first American man to win a World Taekwondo Championships medal since 2009, securing a silver medal in the 80kg division.
Nickolas defeated Olympic bronze medalist Seif Eissa of Egypt in the semifinals. However, in the final, he faced a setback against Italian Simone Alessio, the world’s top-ranked athlete in the 80kg division.
“I genuinely in my heart feel like I’m the best in the world, but it’s just a matter of me putting it together on the day,”
he told NBC Bay Area last month.
CJ Nickolas Taekwondo Career so far
Early Career
CJ Nickolas’s journey in taekwondo began at a young age. He started taking taekwondo classes with his family in the Bay Area when he was just three years old and began competing in the sport by the age of six.
As Nickolas grew older, his dedication to the sport increased. By the age of 11, he had developed a serious commitment to taekwondo, being fully in the discipline.
He moved up to the senior ranks after winning a silver medal at the 2018 World Junior Championships in the 68kg division. However, he faced setbacks in the early stages of his senior career, losing in the round of 32 at the senior World Championships in 2019 and 2022.
Heart surgery in 2020
In 2020 He had heart surgery.
Despite facing challenges, such as a rare anomaly in his C1 vertebrae called “os odontoideum,” Nickolas persevered, competing in track and basketball during his high school years.
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Nickolas’s mother played a crucial role in his early development as an athlete. He still works out with his mom when visiting home, and his mother recognized his talent, as she stated in an interview with NBC:
Professional Career
At the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships held in Manchester, United Kingdom, he competed in the men’s featherweight event but was eliminated in his second match. A few months later, at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, Nickolas lost his bronze medal match in the men’s 68 kg event.
In 2021, Nickolas won the gold medal in the men’s 80 kg event at the Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Cancún, Mexico. Later that year, he continued his winning streak by securing another gold medal in his event at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia.
In 2022, Nickolas set his position as the Pan American champion, winning the gold medal in his event at the Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic. Nickolas faced another setback at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he was eliminated in his first match in the men’s welterweight event.
In 2022, Nickolas achieved his first significant breakthrough on the global stage, winning a bronze medal at the Paris Grand Prix. He continued his winning ways by capturing the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in 2023.
Nickolas’s crowning achievement came in 2023 when he won the silver medal at the World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, becoming the first American man to win a World Taekwondo Championships medal since 2009.
Nickolas won his first World Taekwondo Grand Prix medal in Paris, capturing bronze in a three-day tournament that ended on Sunday. Nickolas became not only the first American taekwondo athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics but also the first American man to do so since the 2016 Rio Olympics.
