American sprint canoeist Nevin Harrison who was born on June 2, 2002, is competing for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Previously she competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she won the gold medal in the women’s C-1 200 meters.
Nevin Harrison qualifies for the Paris Olympics 2024
Nevin Harrison has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics to defend her title. In Tokyo, she became the first American woman to win a gold medal in canoeing or kayaking.
Harrison, who is 21 years old and from Seattle, won the 200-meter canoe sprint at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, California. She is the first American to qualify for any canoeing or kayaking event in Paris. More Americans may join her later this spring.
In 2022, Harrison won her second world title and finished fourth at the world championships last August. This was two months after suffering a back injury that kept her in bed for a week and out of the water for a month.
Harrison said in an interview that she thought winning a gold medal in Tokyo would be like a fairy tale, but it was actually much harder. After Tokyo, Harrison went to San Diego State University. In the interview, she said it was difficult to enjoy the sport for two years after her Olympic win, but she regained her motivation.
“I’m the underdog again, I guess,” They think I fell back, but they’re not ready.”
she said.
When was Nevin born and about her Parents?
Nevin Harrison was born on June 2, 2002, in Seattle, Washington, United States. Her parents are Mark Harrison and Laura Worthen, and she has one older brother named Finley. Nevin is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds.
Her father used to be a theater and opera director in New York City and then became a professor. Her mother was an actress and now owns a speech and language clinic in Seattle. Nevin’s brother, who is a year and a half older than her, is an EMT planning to attend paramedic training school in fall 2021.
Nevin plans to study kinesiology (athletic training) at San Diego State University. While there, she will train at Mission Bay and Chula Vista. She has spoken Spanish fluently since age 5. When she was 8 years old, she lived in Kobe, Japan for 6 months. Nevin enjoys hiking, and being in nature, is passionate about paddling, likes music, and wants a career in medicine.
She joined the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club Racing Team in Gainesville, Georgia, with coach Zsolt Szadovszki. This move allowed her to improve her skills and focus on training to reach the highest level of the sport.
Nevin Harrison started her Canoe Journey at the age of 12
Nevin started canoeing at age 12 with the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club. In middle school, she ran the 100 meters and 200 meters but got a hip injury in her freshman year of high school at Roosevelt High School. After this injury, she started taking canoeing more seriously.
In 2017, when Nevin Harrison was 15 years old, she began competing for the United States. She took part in the 2017 Olympic Hopes Regatta in Račice, Czech Republic. She won a silver medal in the 1000-meter canoe event, and gold medals in the 500-meter and 200-meter canoe events for her age group (born in 2002).
In 2018, at the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Poznan, Poland, Harrison won gold medals in the 500-meter and 200-meter canoe events for the 2002 age group.
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In 2019, she moved to the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club Racing Team in Gainesville, Georgia, to train with coach Zsolt Szadovszki. At the 2019 USA Team Trials in Oklahoma City, she won the senior and junior events for the 1000-meter, 500-meter, and 200-meter canoe races.
She competed at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and won the 200-meter canoe event. At the 2019 Canoe Sprint World Championships, she won gold in the 200-meter canoe event, becoming the first American to win a world championship in sprint canoeing.
Nevin took home Gold in her first Olympics
In 2020, Nevin Harrison of the United States won the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter canoe single event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Harrison, who was the world champion, raced ahead from the start and held on to win with a time of 45.932 seconds.
The 19-year-old American sprint canoeist was the fastest qualifier for the final race at the Sea Forest Waterway venue. She also set the best Olympic time of 44.938 seconds in the heats. Harrison finished 0.854 seconds ahead of Vincent-Lapointe to earn the USA’s first-ever gold medal in canoe sprinting at the Olympic Games.
In 2022, Harrison won her second world title and also placed fourth at the World Championships last August. She won the 200-meter canoe sprint at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, California in 2022, qualifying her to defend her title in Paris for the U.S. Olympic team.
In 2023, Harrison secured 4th position in the women’s 200-meter canoe single event at the 2023 World Championships held in Dartmouth while competing in the sport of sprint canoeing and representing the United States
