Maggie Nichols (gymnast)

Maggie Nichols
Full name Margaret Mary Nichols
Nickname(s) Maggie
Country represented  United States
Born (1997-09-12) September 12, 1997
Little Canada, Minnesota
Height 5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Level Senior International Elite
Years on national team 2013–2016
Club Twin City Twisters
College team Oklahoma Sooners
(2016–2020)
Head coach(es) Sarah Jantzi, Rich Stenger
Retired July 12, 2016 (elite)
Medal record
Representing  United States
World Championships
2015 Glasgow Team
2015 Glasgow Floor Exercise
Pan American Championships
2014 Mississauga Team
2014 Mississauga All Around
FIG World Cup
2016 Newark All Around
2014 Tokyo All Around
City of Jesolo Trophy
2014 Jesolo Team
2016 Jesolo Team
2014 Jesolo Vault
Representing Oklahoma Sooners
NCAA Championships
2017 St Louis Team
2017 St Louis Uneven Bars
2018 St Louis All Around
2018 St Louis Uneven Bars
2018 St Louis Floor Exercise
2018 St Louis Team
2018 St Louis Balance Beam
Big-12 Championships
2017 TexasTeam
2017 TexasVault
2017 TexasUneven Bars
2018 IowaTeam
2018 IowaAll Around
2018 IowaFloor Exercise
2018 IowaUneven Bars
2018 IowaBalance Beam
2018 IowaVault

Margaret Mary "Maggie" Nichols (born September 12, 1997 in Little Canada, Minnesota) is an American collegiate artistic gymnast for the University of Oklahoma. She is one of only nine NCAA gymnasts to have scored a perfect 10 on all four events,[1] and the first to do so for Oklahoma.[2]

Previously, Nichols represented the United States in international competitions, including the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where she won a gold medal with the American team and an individual bronze medal on floor exercise.[3] At the USA Gymnastics National Championships, she finished third all-around in 2014 and second all-around in 2015. Before a knee injury in early 2016, she was a contender for the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[4]

Senior career

2013

Nichols was added to the national team in March and was selected to represent the United States at the City of Jesolo Trophy and the Germany-Romania-USA Friendly.[5] At the City of Jesolo Trophy, she finished first with the team and sixth in the all-around, and won a silver medal on the floor exercise.

At the U.S. Classic, Nichols finished sixth in the all-around, eleventh on uneven bars, eighth on balance beam, and fifth on floor.[6] At the National Championships, she placed fifth in the all-around[7] and on beam, sixth on bars, and ninth on floor.[8]

2014

At her second City of Jesolo Trophy, Nichols finished first with the team and third in the all-around.[9] At the Tokyo Cup, she finished third in the all-around.[10]

She went on to place third in the all-around and on floor at the U.S. Classic, fifth on uneven bars, and seventh on balance beam. At the National Championships in August, she placed third in the all-around behind Simone Biles and Kyla Ross, third on uneven bars and floor exercise, and fourth on balance beam.

Nichols helped the United States finish first at the Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Mississauga, Canada, and placed third in the all-around competition with a score of 55.500.[11] However, she dislocated her kneecap on floor exercise during the team final and withdrew from the selection camp for the 2014 World Championships team.[12]

2015

At the City of Jesolo Trophy, Nichols finished first with the team and seventh in the all-around.[13]

On July 25, she competed at the Secret U.S. Classic and finished third in the all-around, behind two-time reigning world all-around champion Simone Biles and 2012 Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas. She debuted her Amanar vault, scoring 15.80; finished fifth on bars and beam with scores of 14.95 and 14.45, respectively; and placed third on floor with a 14.80, for a total all-around score of 60.000.[14]

The following month, Nichols competed at the 2015 P&G Championships in Indianapolis. On the first night of competition, she led for the first three rotations, scoring 15.80 for her Amanar vault; 14.95 on bars; 14.40 on beam (she debuted several new skills, including a tucked Barani and a switch ring leap, and dismounted with a full-twisting double tuck, but incurred a one-tenth deduction for going overtime); and 14.55 on floor. Her all-around total for the night was 59.700, 1.400 points behind Biles.

On night two, she began on bars with a 14.8. During her beam warmup, she fell on her full-twisting double back dismount and decided to change it to a simpler double pike. She scored a 14.65, higher than her score on night one despite losing three-tenths in start value. On floor, she stumbled out of bounds on her double-double mount, incurring a three-tenth deduction, and scored a relatively low 14.15. She finished the competition on vault, where she scored 15.85 to finish in second place with a two-night total of 119.150.

At the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Nichols competed on vault, beam, and floor in the preliminary round. During the team final, she competed on all four events,[15] contributing an all-around total of 59.232 toward the U.S. women's gold-medal finish. She also qualified for the floor event final where she earned a bronze medal.

2016

Nichols competed at the 2016 AT&T American Cup on March 5,[16] scoring 59.699 to place second behind Gabby Douglas. Afterward, U.S. national team coordinator Márta Károlyi said, "Maggie showed again that I can rely on her".[17] This competition cemented Nichols as a contender for the 2016 Olympic team.

A month later, Nichols tore her meniscus while training her Amanar vault and had to withdraw from the 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in Seattle.[18] She underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and was out of competition for two months.[19]

In June, she returned to competition at the P&G Gymnastics Championships. She performed only on the uneven bars and balance beam, finishing 13th and 10th, respectively, and advanced to the 2016 Olympic Trials in July. There, she finished sixth in the all-around, fifth on vault, ninth on uneven bars, eighth on balance beam, and fourth on floor. She was not chosen for the Olympic team or as an alternate athlete.

A few days after the conclusion of the Olympic Trials on July 13, 2016, Nichols announced her retirement from elite gymnastics via Instagram and interview,[20] and said she was taking time to rest before starting her NCAA career at the University of Oklahoma in August.

College career

Nichols committed to the Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics team in 2015 with a full athletic scholarship.[21]

In the 2016–2017 season, as a freshman majoring in health and exercise science, she made the competitive lineup on all four events and scored at least one perfect 10 on each.[1] As of Week 5, she led the NCAA standings in all four events and the all-around.[22] She finished the regular season in first place in the all-around, ahead of Utah's MyKayla Skinner; second on vault, behind Ashleigh Gnat of LSU; second on bars, behind Kyla Ross of UCLA; tied for second on beam with Oklahoma teammate Chayse Capps, behind UCLA's Katelyn Ohashi; and tied for first on floor with Skinner.[23] At the 2017 NCAA Championships, she had a surprising fall on beam, her first major mistake of the entire season, missing out on the all around podium despite being favored to win. However, she performed well on the other events, including bars in which she finished first in a six-way tie. She also helped Oklahoma qualify to the Super Six. In the Super Six final, Nichols scored a ten on beam – the same event that she fell on the day before – en route to Oklahoma's victory in the finals, defending their national title. This also ensured Oklahoma's first ever undefeated season in program history.

In the 2017-2018 season she had another great season and at the 2018 NCAA Championships made up for her previous years failure in the All Around by winning the All Around. In the event finals, she scored a perfect ten on the uneven bars to tie for gold with Elizabeth Price of Stanford, and scored a 9.9625 on the floor to tie for gold with Katelyn Ohashi of UCLA.

Career perfect 10.0

SeasonDateEventMeet
2017Jan 21, 2017VaultOklahoma vs West Virginia
2017Feb 3, 2017Balance BeamOklahoma vs Denver, Nebraska & TWU
2017Feb 10, 2017Floor ExerciseOklahoma vs Auburn
2017Feb 17, 2017Balance BeamOklahoma vs Georgia, LSU & Missouri
2017Mar 4, 2017Uneven BarsOklahoma vs Michigan
2017Mar 18, 2017VaultBig 12 Championships
2017Apr 15, 2017Balance BeamNCAA Super Six Finals
2018Feb 4, 2018Balance BeamOklahoma vs UCLA
2018Feb 11, 2018Balance BeamOklahoma vs UNC
2018Mar 3, 2018VaultOklahoma vs Michigan
2018Mar 3, 2018Balance BeamOklahoma vs Michigan
2018Mar 16, 2018VaultOklahoma vs Alabama
2018Mar 18, 2018Floor ExerciseOklahoma vs TWU
2018 Apr 20, 2018 Uneven Bars NCAA Championship Semifinals

Regular season ranking

SeasonAll-AroundVaultUneven BarsBalance BeamFloor Exercise
20171st2nd2nd2nd (tie)1st (tie)

Personal life

Nichols graduated from Roseville Area High School in 2016.[24]

In January 2018, Nichols came forward as one of the many victims sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, starting when she was 15. Additionally Nichols revealed that it was her coach that initially reported Nassar and his abuse to the USA Gymnastics staff:[25]

"One day at practice, I was talking to my teammate, and brought up Dr. Nassar and his treatments. When I was talking to her, my coach overheard. I had never told my coach about these treatments. After hearing our conversation she asked me more questions about it and said it doesn't seem right ... so she did the right thing and reported this abuse to the USA Gymnastics staff"[26]

On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Nichols and the other survivors would be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.[27]

Competitive history

Junior

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2011Nastia Liukin Cup20
J.O. National Championships2nd, silver medalist(s)2nd, silver medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)
Elite Qualifier1st, gold medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)2nd, silver medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)5
American Classic83rd, bronze medalist(s)2nd, silver medalist(s)
2012American Classic3rd, bronze medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)42nd, silver medalist(s)7
U.S. Classic7
U.S. National Championships1110141011

Senior

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2013City of Jesolo Trophy1st, gold medalist(s)62nd, silver medalist(s)
GER-ROU-USA Friendly1st, gold medalist(s)
U.S. Classic61185
U.S. National Championships5659
2014City of Jesolo Trophy1st, gold medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)
Tokyo World Cup3rd, bronze medalist(s)
U.S. Classic3rd, bronze medalist(s)573rd, bronze medalist(s)
U.S. National Championships3rd, bronze medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)43rd, bronze medalist(s)
Pan American Championships1st, gold medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)
2015City of Jesolo Trophy1st, gold medalist(s)7
U.S. Classic3rd, bronze medalist(s)553rd, bronze medalist(s)
U.S. National Championships2nd, silver medalist(s)745
World Championships1st, gold medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)
2016American Cup2nd, silver medalist(s)
U.S. National Championships1310
U.S. Olympic Trials65984

NCAA

Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2017Big-12 Championships1st, gold medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)8
NCAA Championships1st, gold medalist(s)2951st, gold medalist(s)10
2018Big-12 Championships1st, gold medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)3rd, bronze medalist(s)2nd, silver medalist(s)2nd, silver medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)
NCAA Championships2nd, silver medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)61st, gold medalist(s)2nd, silver medalist(s)1st, gold medalist(s)

References

  1. 1 2 Maine, D'Arcy (2017-03-07). "Check out all five college gymnastics routines that earned perfect 10s over the weekend". espnW. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  2. ↑ Gonzalez, Jason (2017-02-13). "Perfect 10 again: Little Canada's Maggie Nichols is college gymnastics' superstar". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  3. ↑ Fincher, Julia (2016-04-01). "Who is... Maggie Nichols". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  4. ↑ Frederick, Jace (2016-07-12). "Little Canada native Maggie Nichols falls short of Rio". Pioneer Press. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  5. ↑ "USA Gymnastics Announces Women's European Tour Team". USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics. March 17, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  6. ↑ "2013 Secret U.S. Classic" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. July 27, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  7. ↑ "2013 P&G Championships – Women Day 2" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. August 17, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ "2013 P&G Championships – Women Day 2 Event Results" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. August 17, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Complete Results: 2014 City of Jesolo Trophy". Gymnastike. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Tokyo Cup 2014 World Cup Serie C II". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  11. ↑ "USA Wins Women's Team Gold At Senior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Women's World Championships Team Selection Training Camp Begins Sept. 15". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Maggie Nichols". usagym.org. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ "2015 Secret U.S. Classic". usagym.org. July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  15. ↑ Axon, Rachel (2015-10-26). "USA turns to Maggie Nichols in team final at world championships". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  16. ↑ "USA Gymnastics announces U.S. athletes for 2016 AT&T American Cup". Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  17. ↑ Radnofsky, Louise (March 5, 2016). "Gabby Douglas, Maggie Nichols Take Top Spots at AT&T American Cup". Retrieved June 7, 2016 – via Wall Street Journal.
  18. ↑ "Knee injury forces U.S. gymnast Maggie Nichols out of Pacific Rims". ESPN. 2016-04-05. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  19. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (April 12, 2016). "Maggie Nichols out 4 to 6 weeks after knee surgery". Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  20. ↑ https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=18945&prog=
  21. ↑ Kraft, Chelsey (2015-11-11). "Best In Class: Sooners Secure Next Generation". soonersports.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Maggie Nichols Bio". OU Athletics. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  23. ↑ Hopkins, Lauren (2017-03-28). "NCAA Final Regular Season Standings". The Gymternet. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  24. ↑ "Roseville Olympic gymnastics hopeful Maggie Nichols injured – Twin Cities". Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Gymnast Maggie Nichols was first to report abuse by Larry Nassar". NBC. January 9, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Gymnast Maggie Nichols writes in letter she was first to alert USAG to abuse by Larry Nassar". ESPN. January 9, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Larry Nassar Sexual Assault Survivors to Receive Arthur Ashe Award For Courage At ESPYs". Sports Illustrated. May 16, 2018.
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